William McIlvanney (1936–2015) was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, and poet. A champion of gritty yet poetic literature, his stories of the philosophical police detective Jack Laidlaw made him “the godfather of tartan noir.”
Born in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, Scotland, McIlvanney studied English at Glasgow University and embarked on a career as a schoolteacher 1960–75. His first two novels, Remedy is None (1966) and A Gift from Nessus (1968,) did not achieve significant commercial success.
After the success of the Laidlaw (1977,) McIlvanney became a full-time writer. The Papers of Tony Veitch (1983) and Strange Loyalties (1991) followed Laidlaw. His autobiographical novel Docherty (1975,) The Big Man (1985,) Walking Wounded (1989,) and The Kiln (1996) are also known for their portrayal of Glasgow in the 1970s.
McIlvanney published poems in The Longships in Harbour (1970) and essays in Surviving the Shipwreck (1991.) Weekend (2006) was a multi-layered, philosophical variation on the “campus novel.”
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by William McIlvanney
Good lies need a leavening of truth to make them palatable.
—William McIlvanney
Topics: Lies, Lying, Deception/Lying
Who thinks the law has anything to do with justice? It’s what we have because we can’t have justice.
—William McIlvanney
Topics: Law, Lawyers
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