About the Book:

In post-war Glasgow a primary school class was set a composition topic: a memorable family event. Each child completed the assignment – all, that is, but one.

Why didn’t you write about your family?

Please, miss. I didn’t, I didn’t know what to write.

But now, he does.

In Already, Too Late, Carl MacDougall, one of Scotland’s most accomplished and celebrated literary writers, presents a memoir of extraordinary authenticity and honesty.

This memoir takes us through MacDougall’s upbringing, both in and out of care on the west coast of Scotland, Fife, and industrial Glasgow, during the first decade of his life.

Within this world, now teetering on the brink of our collective memory, sits a single-parent household of German descent; money is tight, trauma roams free and tragedy comes calling again and again.

Through a powerful mosaic of stories, MacDougall strips away all rose-tinted sentimentality to create a vivid account of heart-break, dissociation and loss.

Already, Too Late is the early life of an outsider looking in, a changeling child, displaced, alone, and – in his own grandmother’s words – ‘no right’. Because for some, even the very beginning is already too late.

Reviews:

Lyrical, richly detailed and full of gentle humour, Already, Too Late is a wonderful book. SUSAN FLOCKHART, The Herald

The book has the vitality and depth of fiction, the kind of fiction that, as we often say, is truer than fact. ALAN MASSIE, The Scotsman

In this extraordinary memoir, Carl MacDougall takes us through his upbringing… BOOKSFROMSCOTLAND

Carl MacDougall is a writer who means a lot to me, as he does to many others… [Already, Too Late] told in a manner which will be familiar to regular readers of MacDougall. Humourous, challenging, principled, quirky, verging on the surreal all with a mastery of language that was his alone. As with many of the best writers, Carl MacDougall had a keen eye for injustice and the absurd. Ensuing sentiment to get to the truth and even when turning that eye on his own young life, as he does here, he sticks to those principles. ALISTAIR BRAIDWOOD, Scots Whay Hae!

Praise for Carl MacDougall:

...the sheer accomplishment of the storytelling and the lively variety of writing styles make it a compelling read. – DAILY MAIL

A towering figure... has lost none of his distinctive style or ability to shock... MacDougall creates a complex world over a dozen deftly crafted pages... [a] masterful collection. – SCOTSMAN

The towering voice of Scottish literature returns with this stunning collection... told without melodrama, with MacDougall's cleanly-written prose... This is a triumphant return to fiction after an absence of a decade for this award-winning writer. – SCOTTISH FIELD

Brutal but brilliant. – HERALD

Carl MacDougall's new collection is brimming with the qualities we've come to expect from this important Scottish writer: beautiful writing, real people, poignant and wounded like us, rich emotional wisdom, and a lovely wit. – ANNE LAMOTT

This novel… sets Carl MacDougall firmly among the pantheon of Kelman and Gray… sparkling and exhilarating… wise and, above all, entertaining – SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

A masterpiece… one of the great Scottish novels of this century – SPECTATOR

Carl is a hero of mine… a great storyteller – BILLY CONNOLLY