 First edition cover | |
| Author | Irvine Welsh |
|---|---|
| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Jonathan Cape (UK) W. W. Norton (US) |
Publication date | May 1996 (UK) August 1996 (US) |
| Media type | Print (hardback and paperback) |
| Pages | 276 pp |
| ISBN | 0-224-04270-X |
| OCLC | 35331741 |
Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance is a 1996 collection of three novellas by Irvine Welsh.
After suffering a stroke, Rebecca Navarro, a best-selling romance novelist, discovers the truth about her corrupt, pornography-loving husband. With the help of Lorraine, her sexually confused nurse, she plots her revenge.
Another nurse at the hospital, Glen, has been secretly admiring Lorraine but after a night at a club, decides to pursue her friend Yvonne instead. Meanwhile, Glen has been accepting money from Freddy Royle, a necrophiliac TV personality. The hospital trustees turn a blind eye to Freddy's nefarious pastime but have to do some fast talking when the new coroner begins asking questions.
Samantha Worthington, an angry and bitter 'Tenazadrine' (Thalidomide) victim, enlists a football hooligan, Dave, to help her seek revenge on the last man left alive who pushed the drug who caused her deformed arms, the drug's marketing director.
The story is told in flashbacks from Samantha's past, flashbacks of the drug marketer's past and his present well-being, and a first person perspective from Dave's eyes. It is known as a "psychedelic" novel.
The longest novella, The Undefeated, presents slice-of-life episodes from the lives of two recreational drug users. Lloyd, an ageing clubber, begins to question his life and considers the possibility of falling in love. Housewife Heather leaves her Dire Straits-loving suburban husband and starts a new life amongst the rave scene, where she meets Lloyd. The film based on The Undefeated was produced and directed by Rob Heydon in 2011. [1]
'Welsh smoothly demonstrates his belief in the liberating power of dance culture. Most interestingly, he avoids the easy route of claiming utopia. If drugs can liberate you, then they can as easily ruin you.' [2]
Soon after publication the book was adapted for the stage by Canadian playwright Keith Wyatt. Debuting at the Edmonton Fringe Festival (1998), the play was considered to be a tremendous hit, leading to its subsequent tour across Canada (1999), and on to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In Edinburgh, the production was attended by the story's original author, Irvine Welsh, whose appreciation for the play led to its international publication in an omnibus of Irvine Welsh stage adaptations, entitled 4 Play, through Vintage/Random House UK. [3]
In the Introduction of 4 Play Welsh had this to say about the play Ecstasy:
"I feel that Ecstasy, by Raven Productions, has been the best theatrical adaptation of my work to date, and I've seen different productions all over the world. I feel that it has fully realized the potential of the story "The Undefeated", giving the text a power which I felt it lacked on the page. It fully captures the spirit I intended, and in its control of pace and use of environment, it creates a unique theatrical experience. It made writing the thing worthwhile; artistically, the play delivered the book for me. I was surprised just how excellent this production was, and I could not believe the empathy and skill with which Keith Wyatt handled the dramatization of this piece."
Following the 2012 Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal, commentators have remarked on the seemingly uncanny resemblance between the character of Freddy Royle and Savile [4] and Welsh has stated he was aware of the Savile rumours at the time. He has stated: "I had nothing to do with the hospital services, or NHS trusts, or the BBC, so how come I knew this rumour about Jimmy Savile, this eccentric British institution? There must have been so much stuff on the grapevine. But there was a whole culture then of not addressing these issues." [5]
The American rock band My Chemical Romance was named after the book, after the bassist, Mikey Way, was shown the book while working in a Barnes & Noble before the band was formed. The phrase "Chemical Romance" caught his eye and he was shocked nobody had used it as a band name before, prompting him to use it for his own band's name. [6] Frank Iero said that the name was popular and many people in the New Jersey punk rock scene were jealous they hadn't thought of something like it.
A film version of Ecstasy was announced at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in 2011. [7] [8] It was produced and directed by Rob Heydon. [9]
Irvine Welsh is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel Trainspotting was made into a film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, and directed several short films.
Kristin Laura Kreuk is a Canadian actress. Debuting on teen drama Edgemont, she became most known for her roles as Lana Lang in the superhero television series Smallville (2001–2011), Catherine Chandler in The CW sci-fi series Beauty & the Beast (2012–2016) and as Joanna Hanley in the CBC legal drama series Burden of Truth (2018–2021).
Trainspotting is a 1996 British black comedy-drama film directed by Danny Boyle and starring Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, and Kelly Macdonald in her film debut. Based on the 1993 novel of the same title by Irvine Welsh, the film was released in the United Kingdom on 23 February 1996.
Trainspotting is the first novel by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh, first published in 1993. It takes the form of a collection of short stories, written in either Scots, Scottish English or British English, revolving around various residents of Leith, Edinburgh, who either use heroin, are friends of the core group of heroin users, or engage in destructive activities that are effectively addictions. The novel is set in the late 1980s and has been described by The Sunday Times as "the voice of punk, grown up, grown wiser and grown eloquent".
Alan John McGee is a Scottish businessman and music industry executive. He has been a record label owner, musician, manager, and music blogger for The Guardian. He co-founded the independent Creation Records label, running it from 1983 until its closure in 1999.
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean is a 1982 comedy-drama film and an adaptation of Ed Graczyk's 1976 play. The Broadway and screen versions were directed by Robert Altman, and stars Sandy Dennis, Cher, Mark Patton, Karen Black, Sudie Bond, and Kathy Bates.
The Inter City Firm (ICF) is an English football hooligan firm associated with West Ham United, which was mainly active in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. The name came from the use of InterCity trains to travel to away games. They were the subject of a 1985 Thames Television documentary, Hooligan.
Frederick George Moore was an American musician best known for his 1980 song "It's Not a Rumour", which he co-wrote with his ex-wife Demi Moore, and recorded with his band The Nu-Kats. The song was not a chart hit, but the video did receive airplay on MTV in the early 1980s. Moore's career spanned decades and included teaching himself to play guitar, writing the lyrics to 1,000 original songs, forming multiple bands, and even starring in a few film roles. Moore's bands performed at legendary Los Angeles clubs, including Whisky a Go Go, The Troubadour, and Starwood, and headlined alongside The Police, The Knack, and The Motels. His memoir, It's Not a Rumour, published in 2021, chronicles his unorthodox story of making it big in music and life without ever making any money.
Ecstasy most often refers to:
Andrew Ewan Stewart is a Scottish film, television and stage actor.
Rob Heydon is a Canadian film producer and director of television series, feature films and documentaries.
The Chemical Generation refers to a collection of writers in the 1990s who created work responding to the hedonistic ecstasy and rave culture of the era. Irvine Welsh's book Trainspotting is often described as inciting the movement. The Chemical Generation created DJ-led literature where the key aspiration was authenticity. Stylistically, texts recreated the characteristic rhythms of rave music. Welsh said that he wrote in Scottish vernacular because he "...just liked the beat, the 4/4 beat. The English language is weights and measures - controlling, imperialistic - and I don't want to be controlled".
Scott Cleverdon is a Scottish actor best known as the angel Pyriel in the film The Prophecy 3: The Ascent. He has also done significant voice acting.
Gerard Arthur Way is an American singer, songwriter, and comic book writer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and co-founder of the rock band My Chemical Romance. He released his debut solo album, Hesitant Alien, in 2014.
Craig Robert McConnell is a Canadian music producer, songwriter, and film and television composer. His first credit was for writing a song used in the 2002 television film A Killing Spring.
Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy is a 2011 Canadian film adaptation of the short story "The Undefeated" from the best-selling book Ecstasy by Irvine Welsh. Directed by Rob Heydon, the film stars Adam Sinclair as Lloyd Buist, a drug user who smuggles ecstasy from Amsterdam. Kristin Kreuk plays his love interest, Heather Thompson.
Reheated Cabbage is a collection of short stories by Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. It was released in the United Kingdom in July 2009.
The World Contamination Tour was a concert tour supporting My Chemical Romance's fourth album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. This was the first tour My Chemical Romance had done since the departure of their drummer Bob Bryar. For the tour, Michael Pedicone was the stand-in drummer.
In the Tall Grass is a 2019 Canadian supernatural horror drama film written and directed by Vincenzo Natali. It is based on Stephen King and Joe Hill's 2012 novella of the same name. It stars Harrison Gilbertson, Laysla De Oliveira, Avery Whitted, Will Buie Jr., Rachel Wilson, and Patrick Wilson.
Creation Stories is a 2021 British biographical film about Alan McGee and Creation Records, directed by Nick Moran. The film was adapted from McGee's 2013 autobiography of the same name, by Irvine Welsh and Dean Cavanagh.