"I knew that after writing this sweeping family portrait that goes over about 40 years in the Bain family's history, that for my next novel, I wanted to write something that was very focused, that was quite propulsive, and quite edited in the scope and the time that we spend with the characters. And so, for me, it was about romance. It's about that love between these two young men." Douglas Stuart has charmed more than a million and a half readers with his National Booker Award and Booker Prize-winning debut novel, Shuggie Bain. Douglas joins us on the show to talk about his incredible new novel, Young Mungo, optimism, writing about the working class and being gay, masculinity, love, mobility, Margaret Thatcher's legacy, the importance of having a plan before you sit down to write, the writers who inspire him, and much more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we end the episode with a TBR Topoff segment featuring Margie and Marc.

Featured Books:

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart

How Late It Was, How Late by James Kelman

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

Poured Over is hosted and produced by Miwa Messer. This episode was mixed by Chris Gillespie. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

A full transcript of this show is available here.