Win Sky+HD for a year and a trip to Barcelona
Do you agree with the selection? Click here and post your comments
A debut novelist might hope to be called promising, but to be heralded as “the greatest Scottish novelist since Sir Walter Scott” is more than most could hope for. That was how Anthony Burgess described Alasdair Gray after reading Lanark, his self-illustrated postmodern masterpiece in 1981. Thirty years in the making, this great, surreal beast of an autobiographical novel, whose four parts are to be read out of order, stunned a generation with its intense mix of working-class Glasgow realism and dystopian fantasy. Tricksy intertextuality comes with lashings of authorial self-awareness; as he says in one aside: “The critics will accuse me of self-indulgence, but I don’t care”. Glaswegians idolise him. His artwork is as richly inspired as his prose. Sit among his murals in his local, The Ubiquitous Chip, and absorb something of his teeming imagination.
One to read: Lanark (1981)
More about Alasdair Gray
Explore your passion for food with the delights of Thai, Indian & Chinese cooking
In our new series, Tony Hawks takes a dry, wry look at modern life - junk mail, interminable meetings and snooty sales assistants
Read the training tips and advice that helped our London Triathletes
Read our exclusive 100 Years of Fleming and Bond interactive timeline, packed with original Times articles and reviews
The latest travel news plus the best hotels and gadgets for business travellers

Find tickets for:
Shortcuts to help you find sections and articles
2007
£30,000
2006
£14,337
2008
£39,937
Great car insurance deals online
c.£75,000
GlosFirstmeansbusiness
Gloucestershire
£32,795 - £41,545
Universitry of Southampton
Southampton
£
£32,795 - £41,545
Universitry of Southampton
Southampton
Competitive Package
Npower
West Midlands
1 & 2 Bed apartments
From £249,995
Great Investment, River Views
Great Dubai Investment Opportunities
from £89,950
low-cost ownership homes in London
Las Vegas SALE!
£POA
With Ramblers Worldwide Holidays!
£POA
List your property with two leading travel websites
£POA
Great travel insurance deals online
Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online, The Times and The Sunday Times. Globrix Property Search - find property for sale and rent in the UK. Milkround Job Search - for graduate careers in the UK. Visit our classified services and find jobs, used cars, property or holidays. Use our dating service, read our births, marriages and deaths announcements, or place your advertisement.
Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard Terms and Conditions. Please read our Privacy Policy.To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online, The Times or The Sunday Times, click here.This website is published by a member of the News International Group. News International Limited, 1 Virginia St, London E98 1XY, is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701. VAT number GB 243 8054 69.