Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart is similar to Shuggie Bain, a debut novel for which Stuart received the 2020 Booker Prize. The setting is pretty much the same, poverty-stricken neighborhoods in Glasgow, and characters are similar. Conflict between Protestants and Catholics is highlighted, and the tale splits into two narratives, one involving a fishing trip where the 15-year-old boy protagonist is sent by his mother on a fishing trip with two dangerous characters to “make a man out of him,” and story line set in Glasgow that highlights a budding teen romance between Mungo, a Protestant, and James, a Catholic. In Glasgow, at that time and place, the only thing worse than being gay is also crossing the Protestant/Catholic line. The prose is excellent and the broken characters, often terrible persons, are portrayed with humanity that reflects the love sensitive young Mungo has for the world and for his crazy, selfish mother. The Guardian says Young Mungo is better than Stuart’s prizewinning Shuggie Bain. Maybe The Guardian is right:
