Zigzag Street

by Nick Earls

Book Overview

Richard is 28 and single. More single than he'd like to be, and not coping well. Since he and Anna split up six months ago he's been trying to find his way again. Longing to be desirable and searching... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0868246786
• ISBN13: 9780868246789
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Anchor Books
• Length: 275 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Into the Doldrums

I read Zigzag Street during an extended stay in Brisbane and found it packed full of clever observations about everyday life, many of which made me laugh out loud, and a plot that tracks dear Richard/Rick/Ricky through a period of listlessness in life. Having cultivated a serious relationship through his twenties with a well-put-together woman with an anal retentive streak that has clearly led to him betraying his own character, he finds himself out in the cold -- trashed, in Aus -- and despondent yet also acutely sensitive. Who is he? His job, one senses, was taken to create a stable income for the family to be, and now is just a boring farce. His need to move back home , and then to his recently deceased grandmother's house, where he discovers details of her life in her correspondence and doddles over renovations while being henpecked by his mother, throws him into a true bipolarity as he craves teenage babes and a deeper understanding of self simultaneously. His friends have stable relationships, yet he is now single. Irony runs through this tale, something I guess is missed by some of the reviewers here, and the lack of movement of the plot is sort of the point of this study of the doldrums. I loved it. I am not sure how anyone could trash a book in which the main character is lacerated by an orange cat named Greg, named after his Gran's doctor (who has flaming orange hair) during a flea bath, and then Richard gets Greg (the doctor) at the local clinic. Dr. Greg assumes it was a suicide attempt ... and so it goes with all the awkwardness one might expect in a society where people talk as openly as they do here. I can see how a person could give this book three stars if they lack a single ironic or sardonic bone in their body -- then it might be 'amusing but tedious' -- but only a fan of pulp fiction could deliver less. There is too much craft at work here for this book to be anything below three stars. As a bonus, there are lots of real Brisbane references that help give a feel for the city's western suburbs. A must for transplants.

meh!

this book is really clever. i never thought about brisane this way (the way that it is) and it amazed me that these events are likely and could happen to anyone! i've read the book many times and today i decided to stop reading for a little bit and do something else. i live in red hill, very close to zig zag street and didn't think it was very special. so i'll keep this short and say that i love rick's long, meaningless pursuits...

Americans like this book too

I would read this book on the bus to work and everyone would stare at me because I was laughing out loud. It's perfect for any one who appreciates Australians bizarre sense of humor.

Nick Earls is a great laugh!

Nick Earls is my favourite author - he lives near me in Brisbane, Australia. If you want to split your sides laughing, and see what life is like in a non-Sydney/Melbourne Australian city, then do yourself a favour and read anything by Nick! I love how he writes. He describes Brisbane exactly the way it is. His characters are so believable, so funny, so real! He is the only author I know who can make me laugh uncontrollably, embarrassing myself with tears of hysterics when I read in public places! And Nick is such a nice guy, very down to earth. He even takes the time to reply to his fans emails personally! I enjoyed all his books, but my favourites are Zig Zag Street and Perfect Skin (his new one).

He know us all to well

Nick Earls has a great way of letting us into his main charaters head. He grabs you and takes you for a ride in. A nice lazy ride through the romances and heart breaks of the main character in a way that we can laugh along even as we feel for him. He makes you want to kick the guys as he goes through things that seem all to familiar. Once you read one of his book you will want to get the lot Bachelor Kisses, Head games and the new one Perfect Skin are a must