{"product_id":"a-working-class-state-of-colin-burnett-9781914090158","title":"A Working Class State of Mind","description":"\u003cp\u003eWritten entirely in East coast Scots \u003cstrong\u003eA Working Class State of Mind\u003c\/strong\u003e, the debut book by Colin Burnett, brings the everyday reality and language of life in Scotland to the surface.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eColin's fiction takes themes in the social sciences and animates them in vivid ethnographic portrayals of what it means to be working class in Scotland today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cstrong\u003eA Working Class State of Mind\u003c\/strong\u003e, Colin Burnett gives voice to the bruised, hilarious, furious, and tender lives of working-class Scotland. Burnett writes in a raw Scots vernacular that crackles with insult, poetry, pain and defiant humour. From Leith betting shops to cold flats, theatre halls, family battlegrounds and streets where hope is always hard-won, these stories stare poverty, class contempt, addiction, pride and despair straight in the face - then answer back with laughter.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is fiction with its fists up and its heart exposed: comic, confrontational, compassionate, and alive to the absurd dignity of people too often written off. A fierce collection for readers of contemporary Scottish fiction, social realism, dark comedy and voices that refuse to be polished smooth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Fabulous book. Colin is a great writer, and the characters are so believable. I couldn't put it down.'\u003c\/p\u003eJANEY GODLEY\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Colin Burnett's novel written entirely in East-coast Scots, A Working Class State of Mind, is lucid, fast, funny, hard, twisty, comical, brutal, benign, happily cheeky, and so linguistically erratic that the nature of being erratic quickly becomes an incontrovertible virtue - the reader is just wheeched alang ithoot devaul or even mercy - when's the sequel?' \u003c\/p\u003ePROFESSOR ALAN RIACH, Scottish Literature, University of Glasgow\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Telt in his ain Embra Scots, Colin's chairacters' lifes spairkle wi the language o thaim thit belang tae the toon.\"\u003c\/p\u003e DR MICHAEL DEMPSTER, Scots Scriever\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Burnett will no doubt be hoping that loveable psycho Aldo might become the new Begbie, a character burned into the Scottish psyche. With Burnett's hardman character also striking first and asking questions later.\"\u003c\/p\u003eEdinburgh Evening News\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A glimpse into working-class life in Leith in all its shades and kaleidoscopes. This is Burnett's first book and he has talent, a rare voice and way with characters which is compelling and at times spellbinding. One to watch for in future.\"\u003c\/p\u003eGerry Hassan, Author and Commentator\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This honest, often gritty account of working-class life is full of dark humour and tales of perseverance through hard times. Fans of Irvine Welsh and James Kelman will enjoy this new and exciting young author.\"\u003c\/p\u003eAlasdair Peoples, Visit Scotland\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere are obvious influences of Welsh, Kelman and perhaps Warner too in this compelling debut collection, and like these mentors, Burnett brings what feels like lived experience to his writing. His protagonists are full of life in all their frightening brutality, dark humour and ultimate humanity and it is the sheer believability of them and their exploits that places this fresh new voice in Scottish working-class literature at the top of the ever-blossoming tree.\"\u003c\/p\u003eLoretta Mulholland, Into Creative\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Colin Burnett\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1914090152\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781914090158\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Leamington Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/01\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.48lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.40w x 0.52d","brand":"Colin Burnett","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48801604567295,"sku":"9781914090158","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/a-working-class-state-of-colin-burnett-9781914090158","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}