This story of two men locked in a war of wills that threatens their very
existence is vintage Irvine Welsh. Troubled restaurant inspector Danny
Skinner is on a quest to find the mysterious father his mother will not
identify. Unraveling this hidden information is the key to understanding
the crippling compulsions that threaten to wreck his young life. His
ensuing journey takes him from the festival city of Edinburgh to the
foodie city of San Francisco. But the hard-drinking, womanizing Skinner
has a strange nemesis in the form of mild-mannered fellow inspector
Brian Kibby. It is Skinner's unfathomable, obsessive hatred of Kibby
that takes over everything, threatening to destroy not only Skinner and
his mission but also those he loves most dearly. When Kibby contracts a
horrific, undiagnosable illness, Skinner understands that his destiny is
inextricably bound to that of his hated rival, and he is faced with a
terrible dilemma. Irvine Welsh's work is a transgressive parable about
the great obsessions of our time: food, sex, and celebrity.