Irvine Welsh was born in 1958 in Leith, an area that had been incorporated into Edinburgh in much the same way that Scotland itself had been colonized by England. So his -- and his characters' -- congenital resentment towards the world in general is not too surprising. After dropping out of school at

Dystopic, Funny, Gritty, Low realism, Postmodern fiction, Profane, Slangy, Urban

A minimalist jazz pianist who took bebop to even higher heights, Thelonious Sphere Monk was a unique character and a maverick in the music industry. How else can we describe a man who kept his grand piano in his kitchen? Not interested in using his music to please people, Monk strove to discover ways

Beats, Bebop, Enigmatic, Improvised, Loose, Playful, Quirky, Slangy