From the moment if first appeared, 'Lanark' was hailed as the most remarkable Scottish novel of the second half of the 20th century. A work of extraordinary imagination and wide range, its playful narrative techniques convey a profound message, both personal and political, about humankind's inability to love, and yet our compulsion to go on trying. With its echoes of Dante, Blake, Joyce, Kafka and Lewis Carroll, Lanark has been published all over the world to unanimous acclaim.