Nick EarlsCritiques

Very enjoyable collection of Australian short-fiction.

I especially liked Dress Medium, The Evolution of Sadie Smith and The Amber Amulet. Will have to follow up the authors other works.

A first Nick Earl's book for me, a reading group book.
An interesting story. Different slant on crime/detective, with journalist priming old friend for receiving a bravery award. Started slowly, but pace speeds up at the end.
A good read. I found the descriptions a little overdone at first, but I was amused at some of his human foible observations.

Awesome finding references to places local to me within the story

I love it when a book makes me laugh out loud - it's such a rare experience, but Nick Earls' 'Perfect Skin' did this to me a number of times.

Jon is a single dad, a laser surgeon, and coming to terms with how his life has changed irrevocably. Ash is from a country town in North Queensland, and has moved to Brisbane to complete post-graduate studies and to start afresh. Both have back stories far more complicated than they have been able to share with even their closest friends.

How does one deal properly with grief and guilt? Inside a story that moves quite quickly, there is a slow telling of what is at the heart of this story - what happened to Lily's mother, and why and just how difficult it is for Jon to talk about the situation. And then there's Katie and that damn cat, Flag.

As with his other novels, Earls places his characters unashamedly in Brisbane. It's fun (well I find it fun) to work out locations where I have been that appear in the story. Brisbane's weather becomes part of the setting for this story, especially when Elvis (the dog) holds Jon accountable for it.

I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable book to read.

I could not put this book down and ended up discussing it with Nick Earls at a conference - hence the dedication. Initially, you may think where is this going? this is a woman who is a comedienne and yet - as is the case with many do stand up comedy her life especially her mental health is a mess - well and good for providing witty comments on stage by why is her life a mess. She has a man who loves her but she hides a secret deep within her. Other reviewers do not believe this is a credible novel - please go and read "The Good Terrorist" or "The little drummer girl" or even a biography of a member of The Weathermen "With The Weathermen - the personal journey of a revolutionary woman" by Susan Stern - all of which I had read before the Thompson Gunner as one of my areas of focus is terrorism and indoctrination of terrorists.
So in answer to previous reviewers and those who have read this book and didn't want to dis it - the premise is credible enough that I asked Nick if he had actually received the idea from a woman who had experienced some or all of what is described. - He refused to answer in front of a room full of fans. 'Nuf said really.

I have probably read this small novella out of context and desperately want to, now, read the other four in The Wisdom Tree series. This simply written story got under my skin. The main character Knut, pronounced Noot, was indeed a gentle giant who, abruptly, had his life changed after a night of celebration. As a teenager his friend Paul looked on him as a hero, in later life, when they meet again at a writer's festival, Paul becomes acquainted with the broken life and the man his giant has become.½

I love Nick Earls.

He is one of my favourite Australian authors.

He writes young adult novels and I adore the way he does it. He writes in a really melancholy, beautiful way. He respects his reader, acknowledges something deeper, and offers up a part of himself when doing so.

He came to my high school and talked about writing this book, and the experiences he had that loosely informed it - and that made me respect him and his craft all the more.

This book was a really quick, easy read for me - plenty of tangible, well-written teenaged angst. The only problem I have now is what novel of his I should read next. c:

Oh dear, I am the wrong person to be reading this, I thought to myself, as I began reading Gotham, Book 1 in Nick Earls’ new collection of novellas called The Wisdom Tree. I have paid so little attention to popular and consumer culture since the late 1960s that I am going to miss all the pop references in this novella. I am not going to know which names are real people/places/brands and which ones are not.

Well, as my subsequent discoveries show, (see below, if you too are culturally challenged) my (unrepentant) ignorance didn’t matter. I may have missed some earth-shattering allusion, but it didn’t compromise my reading of the story.

The setting is New York and the narrator is a journalist called Jeff Foster who is interviewing a waste-of-space rapper called Na$ti Boi. Na$ti is nineteen, he revels in his name (and events show that he deserves it), and Australia is about to be graced with his presence at some festival. Foster has sold and re-sold this interview – not just to the festival website. He seems to think that parents will want to read about this uncongenial young person in weekend magazines, and editors have agreed to publish his interview so presumably they think so too.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/05/01/gotham-by-nick-earls/

Venice is Book 2 in Nick Earls’ Wisdom Tree series of novellas; it follows Gotham which I reviewed last month.

The title is a reference to the Venice Biennale, where an invitation to exhibit would be a highlight of any artist’s career. The narrator, Ryan, recently ‘let go’ from a downsized mining company, is eking out his separation payment by staying with his sister Natalie who is preoccupied with her chances at the Biennale, while her husband Phil is preoccupied with being a successful dentist. They are a very successful couple: she has an installation in the NGV; they have a Margaret Olley on the wall and a pool in the garden; there are wine fridges full of expensive French wine, and their living-dining area is the size of a house like mine. But they are not at all preoccupied by their four-year-old son Harrison. For his part, Harrison is preoccupied by his tablet.

Ryan, who keeps his thoughts to himself about all this, is worried about the amount of screen time that the child has, and the lack of meaningful interaction in his life. Harrison is programmed into a routine of events, with day care, swimming lessons and scheduled days with his mother – when she’s not too busy. And since Uncle Ryan is now the de facto manny (i.e. a male nanny) he discovers that Harrison isn’t the best swimmer in his group because (despite the pool) he doesn’t practise at home; and that he has not had a turn at show-and-tell at day-care because (as we all know) parents have to invest a bit of time in the selection of the item with which to show and tell. Ryan has not had a lot of practice at being an uncle, but he ad-libs and is able to turn to advantage events that come their way.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/06/01/venice-by-nick-earls/

I was thinking that I wasn't getting too much out of this story about an Australian high-school lad Dan whose parents were spending a year working in Europe so he had to live with his aunt Jacq, a uni (university) student and her roommate Naomi. Dan has a crush on Naomi and is trying to figure out how to act at a party his roommates host at their house when he encounters Imogen, a party guest with a Chuppa-Chup (lollipop). I practically fell on the floor laughing at this party scene. I'm glad I stuck with this book at least for all of the belly laughs just that one chapter gave me. Dan perseverates a lot, and we readers still hear about Naomi even as this book ends, but it concludes on a happy and realistic note. It turned out to be a fine read after all.

A pretty good collection of short stories, some better than others but overall an okay book. I liked 2 stories very much and the others were okay.
3 stars for the overall book.

I had heard a lot about Nick Earls; all good and a tv interview showed him to be funny in person, so I had high hopes for "Zigzag Street", the first (and only) Earls tome I have read.

The fact that "Zigzag Street" remains the only Earls book I have read gives away the fact that I was somewhat underwhelmed by the book. It's amiable enough, with a few lines that led to smiles but nothing to indicate that Earls is the worthy recipient of the praise lavished upon him.

It's a basic boy meets girl plot, and you can date its publication by the fact the lead male character kills time at work by playing a computer game rather than surfing the internet. Still, it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.½

Set in Brisbane once more, ten years more or less after the events of Bachelor Kisses, Nick Earls once more takes us into the life, mostly romantic, frequently hilarious and often moving, of ex-hospital registrar now single dad and partner in a skin cancer clinic, Jon Marshall. The Go-Betweens have been shunted from high-rotation on the car stereo (although the sadly now late Grand McLennan, ex-Go-Bs, is still a favourite), replaced by the Lemonheads. I often yelped out loud with laughter, and was once again pleasantly confounded by an unconventional plot-line. Nick Earls is rapidly becoming a favourite, and I'm going to have to seek out the rest of his books at the earliest possible opportunity.½

I bought this book because the title references one of my favourite songs, and then it sat on my "to read" shelf for a very long time for the self-same reason. The Go-Betweens reference, I felt, might not auger well. This could be a cringingly twee, poorly-composed, Australian indie music name dropping embarrassment. The fact that I had noticed that another of the author's novels is titled Perfect Skin, presumably with reference to the Lloyd Cole and the Commotions song, did not reassure me. It was only at the encouragement of my mate Celia, whose reading tastes are strikingly similar to my own, that I decided it was time to give Nick Earls a go.

And I'm so glad that I did! This is just my cup of tea and was a great antidote to Hannah Kent's Burial Rites which, while also excellent in entirely different ways, is nothing if not grim.

The only warning I would give is that you have to have a pretty dry sense of humour to appreciate the thread of hilarity that weaves its way through this meandering tale. I have noticed quite a few readers saying "Was that supposed to be funny?" and while I was personally left in no doubt on that score, bursting into guffaws in public places on a regular basis during the reading process, I can kind of see that it just wouldn't register on some people's humour radar.

Also, I've said "meandering tale", and that needs to be taken as a gentle warning that if you want/need a traditional plot, with the usual beginning, middle, end/boy meets girl, loses girl, gets girl back again type thing... well, perhaps you'd better give this a miss. It's not like that. It's a highly amusing (as I said, if your brain works that way) journey through a period in the life of a 25-year-old medical registrar in late 1980s Brisbane who is really not at all sure what he wants in life.

Personally, I wouldn't have it any other way. And now, if you will excuse me, I'm off to listen to the Go-Betweens non-stop for some hours.½

4.5/5

I have been trying to get my hands on this book for so long, and finally I managed to get the audiobook from audible, and it was so worth the wait.

Fantastic book, with strong characters. I really enjoyed it.

Full review on my website www.the-book-tower.blogspot.co.uk

I've been a Nick Earls fan for a long time, but I recently picked up Zigzag Street again and was reminded what a great read it is. Witty, crazy, fast-paced dialogue makes the characters come alive, and no one can capture the inner musings of a tragic, heart-broken, twenty-something quite like Nick Earls. I also love how vividly he writes about Brisbane - lots of places and street names to recognise and navigate your way around. I've lived in Brisbane for about four years and love it here. I also happen to pass the end of Zigzag St on the bus on the way to work everyday, which just makes this book that extra little bit more special. So many great lines in the novel, but even the one on the front cover is probably enough to make you pick it up and want to keep reading. "Here I am, on a work day of some importance, riding out of town in a cab with a babe I've just concussed with footwear." Enjoy!

Very funny book. If you liked the 80s and you like reading books about the awkward moments when you are discovering sex this is for you. LOL.

This is the first time I have ever read a collection of short stories. I've always shied away from them, thinking that I wouldn't like them because I'd feel cheated by their very shortness. Well I'm happy to say I've been proved wrong, and three of these were terrific, and I would have liked them to have been lengthier, but still thoroughly enjoyed them as a Short Story. My eyes have ben opened, and I will be looking for more collections.

So funny in parts it brings tears to your eyes, especially the dialogue between the two friends. A little flat in parts but very good.

It's the 1980s, Phil and Frank, fifth year meed students at the Mater, Brisbane, are best friends, they come as a "package deal" - and they work together part time at Ron Todd's World of Chickens where Frank fries chicken while Phil dressed in a chicken suit out front attracts custom.

But life is never simple. Frank's father would rather he join the family tree surgery business, and Phil's dream is to be a film maker. The World of Chickens is running at a loss, Frank appears to be having an affair with Ron's wife, and Phil won't admit he has it bad for Ron's daughter Sophie. Matters are made worse as Phil has the habit of inventing fictions to cover what he sees as lacking in his life. Lacking most is a steady girl, something that is not a problem for the uncomplicated Frank who always seems to have a steady.

As Phil tries to balance his studies, his work and his social life, he also finds himself acting as Frank's guide on morals, and as Ron's confidant in both business and personal affairs. On the home front he has to contend with his free thinking mother who embarrassingly gets the wrong end of the stick about his various relationships.

Former GP Nick Earls has a great sense for comedy, the writing is very good, the scenes boarder on but never fall into farce for there is a subtlety too to the writing and invention. Phil is an appealing and complicated character, Frank too as his appeal, but whereas Phil thinks his way through life Frank goes ahead and acts without too much forethought, but their friendship is solid and never in question. World of Chickens is a very funny, very entertaining read with a very human heart - I shall certainly be looking out more books by Nick Earl.

A collection of short stories interspersed with a series of the adventures of Frank and Philby, two students who meet at med school. Many of the stories are hilarious, while some verge on the surreal.

The adventures of Frank and Philby follow their first meeting at med school and how their friendship started, and after a number of funny and often embarrassing incidents to the final instalment when the two young men are in their thirties and somehow involves fish and Keanu Reeves. Frank and Philby are two opposites, Frank super cool - and although he often gets it wrong he still manages to get the girl, while Philby has a confidence problem and never seems to have success. But they make a team, and an inseparable pair. (Frank and Philby's adventures of their 5th year at med school are told at length in Nick Earls' World of chickens)

Other stories feature the problems of sharing an apartment with a jealous unicorn, lions that roam the wards at night, a guy who fixates on the woman who cuts his hair, the family in witness protection that cannot settle, a shopping mall that appears to go on forever, and the man who wants to change his name, to the more thoughtful story about the young student with a heat condition.

Nick Earl has a great sense for the comic especially where it concerns young men and their preoccupations. But there is also a touch of satire to be found here and a sure perceptiveness. The writing is confident and assured, the stories varied but always entertaining, a worthwhile read.

I was quite young when I read this book but I still remember reading this book on the bus and laughing out loud. The person next to me asked me for the name of the book so they could buy it.

I like Nick Earls but this book just didn't quite work. It a story told by a woman and I had to keep reminding myself that it was woman.

This was very funny.