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  • Young Mungo

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Douglas Stuart
  • Narrated by: Chris Reilly
  • Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (68 ratings)

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Young Mungo

Written by: Douglas Stuart
Narrated by: Chris Reilly
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Publisher's Summary

2023 DUBLIN Literary Award, Long-listed

#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY
THE GLOBE AND MAIL • NPR • KIRKUS REVIEWS TIME • AMAZON • THE WASHINGTON POST THE TIMES (UK) DAILY HIVE THE TELEGRAPH FINANCIAL TIMES THE GUARDIAN LITERARY HUB THE HERALD (UK) • READER’S DIGEST VANITY FAIR LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS

"
Young Mungo seals it: Douglas Stuart is a genius." —The Washington Post

From the Booker Prize-winning author of
Shuggie Bain, Young Mungo is both a vivid portrayal of working-class life and the deeply moving story of the dangerous first love of two young men.

Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in a hyper-masculine world. They are caught between two of Glasgow’s housing estates where young working-class men divide themselves along sectarian lines, and fight territorial battles for the sake of reputation. They should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the dovecote that James has built for his prize racing pigeons. As they begin to fall in love, they dream of escaping the grey city, and Mungo must work hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold.

But the threat of discovery is constant and the punishment unspeakable. When Mungo’s mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland, with two strange men behind whose drunken banter lie murky pasts, he needs to summon all his inner strength and courage to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future.

Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism, Douglas Stuart’s Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the meaning of masculinity, the push and pull of family, the violence faced by so many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.

©2022 Douglas Stuart (P)2022 Penguin Random House Canada
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: LGBTQ2S+
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What the critics say

#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

“Astonishing. . . . Stuart’s writing is stellar. . . . [T]he reader comes to cherish the characters their creator has brought to life. It’s a sucker punch to the heart.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[Douglas Stuart] creates characters so vivid, dilemmas so heart-rending, and dialogue so brilliant that the whole thing sucks you in like a vacuum cleaner. . . . Romantic, terrifying, brutal, tender, and, in the end, sneakily hopeful. What a writer.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Prepare your hearts, for Douglas Stuart is back. After the extraordinary success of Shuggie Bain, his second novel, Young Mungo . . . is another beautiful and moving book, a gay Romeo and Juliet set in the brutal world of Glasgow’s housing estates.” —The Guardian

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What listeners say about Young Mungo

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Make this into a film. PLEASE!

I second this book needing to be a film! Incredible work including the narration. Brilliant!

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Outstanding fiction

Narration was excellent. Story was captivating. I had so much emotionally invested in these characters and the Socio-economic context they are struggling to survive and escape from. I did find personally some parts of the story disturbing and other parts just plain depressing but I couldn’t stop listening. I strongly recommend this book. I think anyone who grew up poor, grew up in certain areas of Glasgow, grew up with alcoholic or addict parents, grew up feeling powerless or someone with any shred of empathy will relate to the main protagonist.

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Beautiful

Well one of the best books I’ve experienced in a long time. Every word and every thought is felt as though I was that character. The narrator’s voice was perfect on bringing this story to life.

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Mungo

Shocking - saddened - and a wretched time in Scottish history between Catholics & Protestant bigotry - a very hard listen 😓

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Deeply moving

It will be a very very long time before I can let go of young Mungo. Fantastic narration. Loved every second. Bought the paper copy to keep as a visual souvenir on my bookshelf,and to help look up the spelling for some Scottish slang and vernacular.

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Awesome audiobook

An excellent story wonderfully narrated in a local accent that took you right there. As a gay man growing up in Glasgow in the 80s it reminded me of the struggles of that life but my current freedom to be who I am made me want this for Mungo and James. It gave me great satisfaction to think that there life today could be like mine and that they lived happily ever after. Brought tears to my eyes. Well written story and look forward to seeing how they serialise it for tv. Can’t wait and I hope it doesn’t lose any of its edginess in its translation.

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Awestruck!!

Please let me start by saying I’m the farthest from a professional reviewer as you can get, I can’t break it all down and offer my opinions or constructively critique it. I can however be completely honest as to whether I enjoyed it or not.
I was lead to this book by chance, i don’t even remember exactly how it happened but I will be forever grateful that it did. I read a lot, it is by far my favourite pastime, i can safely say I read in excess of a hundred books a year. Having said that, it’s not very often that I stumble across a book quite like Young Mungo. I’m not even sure how to put it into words, it made me laugh, cry and think. These characters became real to me, I cared about them in a way that rarely happens. I finish a book and move onto the next, it hasn’t been like that this time, days later I can’t stop thinking about. I never wanted it to end, I became so invested in the characters I want to know more, what became of them, how did their lives turn out. It will take a long while before I’m ready to move on from this book (I think I’ll have to read it again first!!). Lastly but far from least, the narrator is amazing, it took me a minute to get used to the Scottish accent (even after listening to my mother in law for 40 years!) but now I’m looking for other books he’s done just so I can hear him again!! Do yourself a favour and read this book, you will not regret it.
Simply awestruck, Tre!

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THIS NEEDS TO BE A FILM!!!!

What a good Netflix movie this would make. Such a great story and characters. Narration was so good.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Poverty Porn: Dank, Dreary, Depraved.

An unrelieved portrait of ugly depravity delivered in thick Glaswegian dialect, a strain to understand. Compassion for the wretched protagonist turns to impatience, then disgust as his unfortunate associates, incl. his alcoholic low-life mother, wallow through their depraved lives. The final straw for me was Young Mungo's elder brother taking him for a joyride in a stolen car which he then firebombs. Mungo is repelled by this pointless destruction. So what? Too late. I returned the book.

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