Dirt Road
JAMES KELMAN
CANONGATE, $29.99
A teenage boy from an island off Scotland's west coast, Murdo is on the road with his father Tom. Tragedy has split the family in half: Murdo's sister and mother have died, not long apart. Inarticulate grief stalks the two survivors, as they embark on a "holiday" through the American South. A reprieve comes in the form of music – Murdo is entranced by African American street musicians in a rundown bit of small-town Alabama – which offers a release from the chokehold of mourning, but also introduces Murdo to the ingrained racism of ordinary, otherwise decent white people in the neighbourhood. This Man Booker-winning author is hugely influential for good reason: his writing is vibrant and alive, effortlessly overheard and keenly observed, in a way many novels aspire to be and few achieve.