Lanark 1982 an unofficial Alasdair Gray website Mavis Belfrage (1996)

Contents
Mavis Belfrage
A Night Off
Mr Goodchild
Money
Edison's Tractatus
The Shortest Tale

The story 'Mavis Belfrage' is adapted from a play Gray completed in 1968 and reworked several times until 1976. It has appeared under various titles, including 'Mavis Watson', 'Triangles', 'Colchis', 'Agnes Belfrage', 'Agnes Watson' and eventually 'Mavis Belfrage'. The work was produced as a television play, under the title 'Triangles' 1973 and 1976 and was staged in 1975/76. The title tale is about a weak and ineffective teacher meeting and falling in love with a strong and independent female student and charts the decline of their relationship.

The dark brick-red boards, are embossed in gold, front and back with an alternative title:
Front - I CALL THIS BOOK A NOVEL SINCE MOST READERS PREFER LONG STORIES TO SHORT
Back - UNDER THE PAPER JACKET I ADMIT THIS BOOK SHOULD BE CALLED TEACHERS: 6
SHORT TALES

The blurb on the cover states that 'This is the least fanciful of Gray's fiction collections and will amuse readers who do not find the world comfortable and don't expect to escape from it alive'.

Within the book, a rubric in the upper border of the right-hand page of each spread holds a running commentary of brief phrases upon the action on the page. The tales other than Mavis Belfrage itself are introduced, on a separate title page, as 'Five Other Sober Stories' and illustrated with devilish drawings.

BUY THIS BOOK Alasdair Gray's books are sometimes difficult to get hold of. Where they are available, I have included links below to the amazon sites in the UK and the USA. Where a record is on their database, they will usually include links to used-book sellers who can offer the title, even if it is not available direct from amazon themselves.
	Paperback also available.
Alternatively, you can try emailing Morag McAlpine, who can send you a list of available titles. She usually has a variety of out-of-print books, often signed, and also a selection of prints of Gray's artwork, also signed.