‘Am I 68? 69?’ Irvine Welsh on growing old, getting clean, bashing out his new novel – and flirting with guns

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Three decades after he channelled his heroin addiction into the cult classic Trainspotting, the Scottish author has discovered the joys of yoga, breathwork and standing desks. But is he quite as ‘Zen’ as he claims? By rights, Irvine Welsh ought to be photographed somewhere gritty, looking grumpy, he says: “That’s the brand.” Beside a graffitied wall or at the docks, with a beanie pulled low, and definitely not smiling. But here he is, clear-skinned and wholesome in shorts and a T-shirt, drinking tea and – it’s hard to think of anything more off-brand – talking about the health benefits of yoga. Given his reputation for having lived in the worlds his books portray, he should or could look a lot worse. He guffaws at this, eyes a delighted blue, and repeats the phrase as if he’s found a new personal tagline: “Could look a lot worse!” Over the three decades since his cult debut, Trainspotting, was published in 1993, Welsh’s fiction has explored with humour the darker side of life. Drugs, c...
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Daruma review – disabled veteran is landed with a four-year-old in soft-hearted indie road movie

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A surly war vet takes in the daughter he never knew he had in a well-intentioned but overly sentimental film

This low-budget, US-made comedy-drama is full of sincerity and good intentions but that doesn’t quite get off the hook for its egregious sentimentality and copious cliches. But the well-directed (though somewhat artless) performances and competent assembly make it palatable enough to pass the time, especially if you have a particular interest in stories about living with a disability.

The protagonist is surly war veteran and wheelchair-user Patrick (Tobias Forrest, who uses a wheelchair in real life). When he’s not drunk, in a strip club or both, he’s down at the social security office bickering with the staff. (The fact that there’s still an office he can wheel into betrays the fact this was made well before the Trump administration and Doge started gutting the agency.) One day, a pair of social workers show up and inform Patrick that he’s the father of a four-year-old girl, Camilla (Victoria Scott, adorable), who he never knew existed. Her mother has just died from cancer, and Camilla’s options are limited to either staying with Patrick (her upkeep will be paid for by a life insurance policy that kicks out $4k a month), moving in with her grandparents on the other side of the country, or going into foster care.

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