Lean Tales
Encyclopedia
Lean Tales is an anthology of short stories written by Scottish authors Alasdair Gray
, Agnes Owens
and James Kelman
, with author illustrations by Alasdair Gray. Contractually obligated to Jonathan Cape
to provide a new book, Gray claimed to find himself without new material or ideas, and so approached Kelman and Owens to bulk out a collection of stories with some of their own. As is often the case with Gray's later stories, some of his own contributions are recycled from his previous writing, including The Story of a Recluse
(based on his television play) and A Report to the Trustees of the Bellahouston Travelling Scholarship (based on report written after Gray received a grant to travel abroad as an art student).
Lean Tales was first published by Jonathan Cape Ltd., London, 1985.
Alasdair Gray
Alasdair Gray is a Scottish writer and artist. His most acclaimed work is his first novel Lanark, published in 1981 and written over a period of almost 30 years...
, Agnes Owens
Agnes Owens
Agnes Owens is a Scottish author.She was born in Milngavie and spent most of her life on the west coast of Scotland. She has been married twice and raised seven children, also working as a cleaner, typist and factory worker....
and James Kelman
James Kelman
James Kelman is an influential writer of novels, short stories, plays and political essays. His novel A Disaffection was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989...
, with author illustrations by Alasdair Gray. Contractually obligated to Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape
Jonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
to provide a new book, Gray claimed to find himself without new material or ideas, and so approached Kelman and Owens to bulk out a collection of stories with some of their own. As is often the case with Gray's later stories, some of his own contributions are recycled from his previous writing, including The Story of a Recluse
The Story of a Recluse
The Story of a Recluse has been the title of at least three works of fiction.The first, an unfinished tale by Robert Louis Stevenson, tells the story of Jamie Kirkwood, an Edinburgh minister's son who finds himself waking up in a room identical to his own in the house of a mysterious man called...
(based on his television play) and A Report to the Trustees of the Bellahouston Travelling Scholarship (based on report written after Gray received a grant to travel abroad as an art student).
Lean Tales was first published by Jonathan Cape Ltd., London, 1985.