A Chancer Explained

A Chancer is a novel by the Scottish writer James Kelman published in 1985 by Polygon Books.^{[1] [2]} This novel is the first to be written by Kelman, but it was published after The Busconductor Hines (1984).^[3]

In a 2016 interview, Kelman said of A Chancer: In that novel, there are no adverbs. There's only concrete. There wouldn't be anything with a value on it, unless it was said in dialogue. Because I tried to create a value-free novel.' He smiles, but there is a hint of resignedness when he says, 'That never gets picked up.^[4]

Notes and References

1. A Chancer (1985) . Kővesi . Simon . Manchester Scholarship Online . July 2007 . 10.7228/manchester/9780719070969.003.0003.
2. In Place of Dialectics: Freedom and Contingency in Russian and Scottish Fiction . Nicoll . Laurence . International Journal of Scottish Literature . 2009 . 5.
3. Book: The Edinburgh Companion to James Kelman . Edinburgh University Press . Hames . Scott . 2010 . ix.
4. Web site: An audience with James Kelman. Cameron. Twiddy. Dundee University Review of the Arts. 28 July 2017. 18 February 2021.