Someone Always Robs the Poor

by Carl MacDougall

A young man returns from London, facing the prospect of reunion with a young daughter he’s never met. A woman recounts her family’s doomed attempt to emigrate from Poland to America 70 years before. A creative writing tutor is shocked by the story of one of his students, who is connected to a past atrocity in Bosnia. A former architect fights a losing battle with alcoholism and the ghosts from his past. A new collection of brilliant stories from the multi-award winning elder statesman of Scottish literature explores themes of poverty, migration, alienation, accountability and alcoholism, with impressive depth and emotional range.

272 pages, Paperback

Published February 23, 2017

About the author

Carl MacDougall was a Scottish writer. He wrote for theatre, radio and television in addition to being a short story writer. His first novel, Stone over Water was preceded by a collection of short stories, Elvis is Dead, published to great acclaim in 1986.

Reviews

[Tracy Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant collection of short stories by the editor of The Devil and the Giro. The people society steps over without a second glance are given a voice and represented with tenderness and an astute insight into what it is like to look at the world from outside the margins. There is a beautiful sequence of monologues set against the viewing point in Queen's Park, where a varied cast of characters come to see their world from their own perspective, escape their struggles and be true to themselves and their thoughts, if only for a few moments. Being privy to their innermost dreams and disappointments reminded me of what it must be like to be one of the angels in Wim Wender's stunning film, Wings of Desire. Indeed, some of the stories in this collection are so heart-breaking, including a memorable piece, told from multiple perspectives, that gives a unique and terrifying insight into Korsakoff's Psychosis, that, as a reader, you can only hope someone really is listening to us in our darkest moments. There is nothing religious about this collection, but it is full of compassion for its characters. It takes people who would otherwise go unheard, either because they are not capable of speaking for themselves, or because society has deemed them too unimportant and, in true outlaw style, gives them back their voice.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first time I've ever read anything by Carl MacDougall, and it will not be the last. The stories contained in this collection often left me stunned, like the powerful story "Korsakoff's Psychosis" that took me right into the experience of a late-stage alcoholic, with all the horrors of that life. It was hard to read that story, and hard to look away even though I wanted to, because the prose slipped me right into the terrible, tragic remnants of mind. The story "William John MacDonald" broke the narrative form to tell a terrible sad story (one of many stories related to drunk men) of a young man's tragic encounter with violence and drinking. On occasion I had to read a page a few times -- in part because of cultural references that weren't familiar to me, and in part because of the style of storytelling. I was always glad to read and re-read.

On the whole, the stories were sad and tragic, although they were never told with melodrama. Instead, they were quiet and deeply emotional, and I sometimes paused when one ended, and held it for a long while before I slipped into the next. What a powerful collection of stories that will haunt me.

[Duckie · Rating 5 out of 5]

**A copy of this book has been generously provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

This powerful collection of short stories blew my mind. Each story is different but there is an underlying theme of poverty, struggle and tragedy. These stories were so emotional without being overly dramatic and written in a way that makes you truly feel the grief and sadness without noticing it. I found myself gasping out loud and teary eyed in certain parts and had to take a break in between stories to prepare myself for the next one. Definitely an amazing book to get caught up in.