The Trainspotting lads are back...and in worse shape than ever.

In the last gasp of youth, Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson is back in Edinburgh. He taps into one last great scam: directing and producing a porn film. To make it work, he needs bedfellows: the lovely Nikki Fuller-Smith, a student with ambition, ego, and troubles to rival his own; old pal Mark Renton; and a motley crew that includes the neighborhood's favorite ex-beverage salesman, "Juice" Terry.

In the world of Porno, however, even the cons are conned. Sick Boy and Renton jockey for top dog. The out-of-jail and in-for-revenge Frank Begbie is on the loose. But it's the hapless, drug-addled Spud who may be spreading the most trouble.

Porno is a novel about the Trainspotting crew ten years further down the line: still scheming, still scamming, still fighting for the first-class seats as the train careens at high velocity with derailment looming around the next corner.
Porno, Irvine Welsh's highly entertaining--though completely unnecessary--sequel to his cult classic, Trainspotting, reunites the gang as they pursue another big-payoff scheme. It's been 10 years since Mark Renton walked away with the cash from a drug sale perpetrated by himself and his mates, Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson, Danny "Spud" Murphy, and Francis Begbie. The megalomaniacal Sick Boy has returned to Edinburgh, where stag film producer "Juice" Terry Lawson has given him the idea for a bold new scam: to locally produce a high-end adult film. Lawson introduces Sick Boy to the beautiful and egocentric Nikki Fuller-Smith, a student and aspiring star. Passivity and self-destructive tendencies have left well-meaning junkie Spud poor and alone, while time has only intensified the anger of the psychotic Begbie, who's fresh out of prison, back in Edinburgh, and obsessed with taking revenge on Renton. Sick Boy locates and persuades Renton, a successful club owner in Amsterdam, to help him steal money for his new production company. From the book's multiple points of view, it's soon clear that everyone's running their own scam, making conflicts--and long-awaited confrontations--inevitable.

Welsh's brutally honest prose and gallery of likeable ne'er-do-wells are in full display here, but the novel feels somewhat superfluous. Porno adds little insight into the characters or events of Trainspotting and fails to match its invention or sense of purpose. However, the author's obvious affection for these characters and dedication to authentically rendered dialogue and setting elevate Porno above mere slapdash reworking. As the novel builds momentum, Welsh wonderfully communicates the intense bravado driving his reckless characters. During such moments of vitality and humor, Porno is superficial but undeniably charming. --Ross Doll

Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Lost in Translation
Comment: Aye, this tirs oan bonnie buk. Nae tis izzy t'rid, n'aw, cooz is writtin' ina mad Weedgie brogue -- patois, argot -- tha' dinnae ken. Ays tryn tae git tru it anna fand ays cauld gate intae it bare ih ays riddin' alout. At wirks!

'Is Welsh ease oan mad buggare, ease. Ain't nowt writin' as gud as hee's -- nowt tha nonce Oopdyke, nair nunna aim Booger Prize wankers. Buh Welsh ease kinna Auld Skule, ken? Ease go'-a stoar t'be telt, anna punters innis tail is awl lak ril chariktairs tha ye noan. Anna struktoor oaf th'thin esses fine essa bonnie bridge oar th' Clyde.

Ahm imagin Welsh writtin oat this an ease larfin' alaut to hizzelf. Th' best, ahm tellin yas! Th' best!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Spice ay Life
Comment: Welsh's novels have always been let-downs after the magnificent epic of Trainspotting. Though Porno has a smaller scope, it is a.) a longer book and b.) a showcase of a far more talented writer than the Welsh of Trainspotting. The first 100 pages had me feeling doubtful, could this really provide me with a satisfying conclusion (for now) of the lives of Rents, Sick Boy, Spud etc? In fact, the complex psychological undertones of the novel left me feeling both viscerally satisfied and amused at the antics of some of modern literature's best characters. If you've liked anything Welsh has written, read this!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: It's the droogs, ye daft radge!!
Comment: As a sequal to Trainspotting, Porno is spot-on. All the characters are revisited, some have grow while others have merely grown older. How all those junkies came full circle was a little tough to swallow, but them all being dead or homeless jakeys would not a good sequal make. So, that being said, suspend logic a bit and you will enjoy the ride as all of them get what coming to them with lots of decadence, drugs, sex and other assorted filthy thoughts and deeds in abundance. Welsh is like good, nasty sex, with the inability to wash your doink off in the sink afterward....great high, but sticky and soiled after. Mmmm...maybe I should have found a wet nap!!PILATE: A Brutal Bible Tale

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Customer Rating:
Summary: excellent sequil
Comment: Irvine Welsh is the master. You all know Trainspotting was great. When I heard there was a sequil I couldn't help but expect a lesser book. My doubts were immensly proven wrong. This book was fun, exciting, and as usual fantastic. Any fan of Welsh, Trainspotting, or dirt bag Scots should read this book. Read it twice!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Hardcore!!!
Comment: The sequel to Welsh's "Trainspotting" brings back many of your favorite characters, from Rents to Spud to Begbie, as well as introduces some new characters.

And it does not disappoint. More wild adventures, more drug fueled hilarity, more explicit situations, it's all you've come to expect from Welsh and more.

Another Welsh classic, dive in and enjoy.

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