I first began reading Irvine Welsh when Trainspotting became super popular in the 1990s. What wasn't to love? It was gritty, foul, decadent, hopeless, and had fantastic music. Additionally, the story was all about that hidden, forbidden world of heroin and drugs, which enticed the teenager in me. I was completely sold when I saw that it was written in dialect, so the words are spelled as one would hear them, because my little language-loving heart was transported.

Strangely, all these elements are found equally throughout his books (Except the music, since I'm probably just imagining the Iggy Pop music in the background). Reheated Cabbage, too, channels all these things. In truth, Welsh hasn't changed much--or really at all--since his hit Trainspotting. Like Trainspotting, Reheated Cabbage tells its stories through the eyes of an individual who is usually pretty damned unlikable and worthless. (In fact, in one story, the protagonist is the young Begbie--who is quite possible the worst, meanest character ever created by Welsh, but a memorable one.) These worthless protagonists usually end up in severe trouble (young addicts carrying their dead friend around, Begbie ruining a family get-together, a homophobe trapped forever buggering his friends in a strange time loop, etc.)--but rarely realize that they're busily destroying their own life or how they ended up in such a situation.

The short stories span Welsh's career, but I'd find it hard to separate the new from the old. The themes, tone, and protagonist is almost always the same, even if the outrageous situations are different. In a way, this is exactly what hooked me on Welsh to begin with and I love it, but in another way, it makes most of the stories fade into the one after...

All around it isn't a bad collection. It's actually nice to see little snapshots of these protagonists, even if they all seem a bit similar. For those uninitiated in Welsh, I'll warn you that if you are in any way squeamish about anything at all (sex, death, rape, misogyny, idiots, cruelty, random violence, domestic violence, drugs, curse words) then I advise not picking up anything by Welsh because he engages every topic. And the "bad guy" is often the protagonist. A lot of the time the protagonist never figures out that he's a bad guy at all. For those initiated already: this is just more Welsh in the same line as all his other works and you shouldn't be surprised by anything here, so enjoy. ( )

Like commodoremarie, I have not read or seen any other works by Welsh. I requested this book from Early Reviewers because it was categorized as "Humor".

After struggling through the first story, I found that humor is a very subjective manner. I probably would have enjoyed this book as an audio book instead of a regular book. Trying to read it as written detracted from the stories themselves. ( )

This is the second book I've read by Irvine Welsh. The first, Ecstasy, disturbed me to no end back in the day even though I've always been a huge fan of the movie version of Trainspotting. None of the stories in this collection are nearly as disturbing, but as with any collection of disparate works, some were better than others. Several of them were fairly modern (read: elliptical) which I don't always like, but I did like the book enough to keep reading them. I think my favorite of the stories is the last one, I Am Miami, which does a good job of sharply drawing a flawed but sympathetic character, and it's also the rare example of redemptive themes in the collection. I actually grew to care about the bitter old school teacher at the heart of that story, and worried for his future. My second most favorite was The State of the Party, which had several classic moments that juxtaposed Scottish vernacular with crisp, proper narration in a way that made me laugh out loud. I do think that this book is best if you are at least familiar with the world of Trainspotting, simply because two of the stories are directly related to that book in some fashion. It also helps to understand Scottish dialect or you will be thoroughly lost through much of the collection. ( )

Real review will be forthcoming. Been swamped. Looking forward to this though! Loved the film Trainspotting and have been meaning to check out Welsh for years.

Sorry to be so long with this review; I am still not sure where to begin. I'd first recommend that the first story or two be read twice, in order to get a good feel for the dialect. Once you reach a suitable comfort level with the scottish dialect, you will probably also be accustomed to the ever-present profanity. (Not that I was particularly offended, but I rarely find this level of profanity in anything I've read, let alone anything worthwhile.) Throughout the book, the characters seem to come from the near-bottom of working class society, and are purposely drawn with few if any redeeming virtues. The stories are compelling, sometimes mesmerizing. They draw you in, and hold you, as if you were watching a train wreck, or a house fire. As suggested by the title, most stories here are reprints, and are bitter, jaundiced stories in which the protagonist rarely finds escape from his situation, or redemption either in the story or the reader's perceptions. The only exception to this is the last story,I Am Miami, the only previously unpublished offering included here. One gets the impression that having achieved some modicum of success, the author has become a bit less cynical and hence more sympathetic with his creations. I give the book three stars because I enjoyed parts of it, and elsewhere it compelled me to go on. It is not a book you could casually recommend to anyone whose tastes you were not familiar with, but I'm sure we all know someone (not your mother) who might enjoy it. ( )