Welcome to the Heady Heights
Published on 21. March 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
276 pages
978-1-912374-61-8 (ISBN)
Description
A little man with big ideas attempts to find TV fame with an unruly group of young singers, in a gritty, dark, hilarious and all-too-believable drama about the elusivity of stardom, in an age when 'making it' was 'having it all'...
'A real new talent on the Scottish literary scene' Press & Journal
'Ross brings his ever-so-dark humour and caustic eye to 1970s Glasgow, and it proves to be the perfect pairing' Alistair Braidwood
'David Ross carved out an enduring place for himself among contemporary Scottish novelists' Alastair Mabb, Herald Scotland
'This is hardboiled tartan noir with a musical edge, streetwise intelligence and exactly the sense of humour you'd hope to find as showbiz meets Duke Street and high society enforcers battle gentlemen of the Sarry Heid and graduates of the Bar L' A L Kennedy
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Welcome to the Heady Heights ...
It's the year punk rock was born, Concorde entered commercial service and a tiny Romanian gymnast changed the sport forever.
Archie Blunt is a man with big ideas. He just needs a break for them to be realised. In a bizarre brush with the light-entertainment business, Archie unwittingly saves the life of the UK's top showbiz star, Hank 'Heady' Hendricks', and now dreams of hitting the big-time as a Popular Music Impresario.
Seizing the initiative, he creates a new singing group with five unruly working-class kids from Glasgow's East End. Together, they make the finals of a televised Saturday-night talent show, and before they know it, fame and fortune beckon for Archie and The High Five. But there's a complication; a trail of irate Glaswegian bookies, corrupt politicians and a determined Scottish WPC known as The Tank are all on his tail...
A hilarious and poignant nod to the elusivity of stardom, in an age when 'making it' was 'having it all', Welcome to the Heady Heights is also a dark, laugh-out-loud comedy, a heart-warming tribute to a bygone age and a delicious drama about desperate men, connected by secrets and lies, by accidents of time and, most of all, the city they live in.
------------------------
Praise for David F. Ross
'Capturing the horror and futility of life on the fringes of its criminal underworld, it is a gloriously dark read' Liam Rudden, Scotsman
'More than just a nostalgic recreation of the author's youth, it's a compassionate, affecting story of a family in crisis at a time of upheaval and transformation, when disco wasn't the only thing whose days were numbered' Herald Scotland
'One of the most thoroughly and unapologetically enjoyable novels you'll read this year - riotous, courageous, and laugh-out-loud funny. It's also gritty, gallus and Glaswegian to its core - with Welcome To The Heady Heights David F. Ross has given us a novel to revel in' Scots Whay Hae
'Welcome to the Heady Heights' is powerful and punchy, with well placed, darker than dark humour highlighting a visual feast of a read' LoveReading
'Full of comedy, pathos and great tunes' Hardeep Singh Kohli
'Warm, funny and evocative' Chris Brookmyre
'Dark, hilarious, funny and heart-breaking' Muriel Gray
'Just brilliant' Bobby Bluebell
'This is a book that might just make you cry like nobody's watching' Iain MacLeod, Sunday Mail
'A real new talent on the Scottish literary scene' Press & Journal
'Ross brings his ever-so-dark humour and caustic eye to 1970s Glasgow, and it proves to be the perfect pairing' Alistair Braidwood
'David Ross carved out an enduring place for himself among contemporary Scottish novelists' Alastair Mabb, Herald Scotland
'This is hardboiled tartan noir with a musical edge, streetwise intelligence and exactly the sense of humour you'd hope to find as showbiz meets Duke Street and high society enforcers battle gentlemen of the Sarry Heid and graduates of the Bar L' A L Kennedy
------------------------
Welcome to the Heady Heights ...
It's the year punk rock was born, Concorde entered commercial service and a tiny Romanian gymnast changed the sport forever.
Archie Blunt is a man with big ideas. He just needs a break for them to be realised. In a bizarre brush with the light-entertainment business, Archie unwittingly saves the life of the UK's top showbiz star, Hank 'Heady' Hendricks', and now dreams of hitting the big-time as a Popular Music Impresario.
Seizing the initiative, he creates a new singing group with five unruly working-class kids from Glasgow's East End. Together, they make the finals of a televised Saturday-night talent show, and before they know it, fame and fortune beckon for Archie and The High Five. But there's a complication; a trail of irate Glaswegian bookies, corrupt politicians and a determined Scottish WPC known as The Tank are all on his tail...
A hilarious and poignant nod to the elusivity of stardom, in an age when 'making it' was 'having it all', Welcome to the Heady Heights is also a dark, laugh-out-loud comedy, a heart-warming tribute to a bygone age and a delicious drama about desperate men, connected by secrets and lies, by accidents of time and, most of all, the city they live in.
------------------------
Praise for David F. Ross
'Capturing the horror and futility of life on the fringes of its criminal underworld, it is a gloriously dark read' Liam Rudden, Scotsman
'More than just a nostalgic recreation of the author's youth, it's a compassionate, affecting story of a family in crisis at a time of upheaval and transformation, when disco wasn't the only thing whose days were numbered' Herald Scotland
'One of the most thoroughly and unapologetically enjoyable novels you'll read this year - riotous, courageous, and laugh-out-loud funny. It's also gritty, gallus and Glaswegian to its core - with Welcome To The Heady Heights David F. Ross has given us a novel to revel in' Scots Whay Hae
'Welcome to the Heady Heights' is powerful and punchy, with well placed, darker than dark humour highlighting a visual feast of a read' LoveReading
'Full of comedy, pathos and great tunes' Hardeep Singh Kohli
'Warm, funny and evocative' Chris Brookmyre
'Dark, hilarious, funny and heart-breaking' Muriel Gray
'Just brilliant' Bobby Bluebell
'This is a book that might just make you cry like nobody's watching' Iain MacLeod, Sunday Mail
Reviews / Votes
"A twisted love letter to Glasgow at her finest and worst, shot through with an eye for 70's detail and an awareness of our current, complex ills. This is hardboiled tartan noir with a musical edge, streetwise intelligence and exactly the sense of humour you'd hope to find as showbiz meets Duke Street and high society enforcers battle gentlemen of the Sarry Hied and graduates of the Bar L' A L Kennedy "Full of comedy, pathos and great tunes." --Hardeep Singh Kohli, author, Indian Takeaway "This is a book that might just make you cry like nobody's watching." --Sunday Mail "Dark, hilarious, funny and heart-breaking." --Muriel Gray, author, The Trickster "Warm, funny and evocative." --Chris Brookmyre, author, Places in the Darkness "A real new talent on the Scottish literary scene." --Press and JournalMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 199 mm
Width: 131 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
274 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-912374-61-8 (9781912374618)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
David F. Ross was born in Glasgow in 1964 and has lived in Kilmarnock for over 30 years. He is a graduate of the Mackintosh School of Architecture at Glasgow School of Art, an architect by day, and a hilarious social-media commentator, author and enabler by night. His debut novel The Last Days of Disco was shortlisted for the Authors Club Best First Novel Award, and optioned for the stage by the Scottish National Theatre. All five of his novels have achieved notable critical acclaim and There's Only One Danny Garvey, published in 2021 by Orenda Books, was shortlisted for the prestigious Saltire Society Prize for Scottish Fiction Book of the Year. David lives in Ayrshire.