Tom Lynch

The infamous Scottish wordsmith--author of 1993's "Trainspotting" and its sequel, "Porno"--returns this month with "The Bedroom Secrets of Master Chefs." Instead of hardcore junkies and petty criminals, Welsh turns his eye towards restaurant inspection, which is, imaginably, just as disgusting. Danny Skinner serves as a protagonist, who shuffles his way out of Edinburgh to California in search of his father's true identity. A supporting cast including a celebrity and a more clean-cut inspector enter the game, and the vulgarity ensues. As unimaginable as it is for Welsh to offer up a novel with such a classically sentimental plot--one young man's search for meaning in life and the father he never knew--Welsh does it with the sort of communal distaste and blackness that you would expect, at least from the guy who gave us "Trainspotting." It's almost as if this book hates itself, and that's a tough feat to pull off considering the road Welsh has already paved for himself. This one reads fast, even with the unrelenting Scottish and English slang.

Irvine Welsh reads from "The Bedroom Secrets of Master Chefs" on August 17 at 57th Street Books, 1301 East 57th, (773)684-1300, at 7pm. Free.

(2006-08-15)

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