Showing Zigzag Street by Nick Earls

"I basically blew my university days in the pursuit of one girl."

Richard Derrington has been trashed, the sort of tragic thrashing when the take-out place's caller ID identifies you as your ex, the kind of thorough trashing that causes you to invent spontaneous trips to Melbourne and makes heartbreaking moments of junk mail. That may be why he's distracted and work and crap on the racquetball court. That may be why Greg the cat has found himself ground zero for a flea infestation and why Richard's renovation of his grandparents' home has begun and ended at the verandah railing.

But that's not altogether true. In between a complicated relationship with his boss and earning himself a Neighbor of the Month award on Zigzag Street, Richard will correct anyone who calls him Ricky, get caught up by The Spanish Tragedy, and stumble his way from perpetrator of a mild concussion to befuddled participant in a dinner party that may or may not be a first date.

Zigzag Street. It's where Richard Derrington will dance naked in the office. It's where he might just come of age in his late twenties.

And it's where it all began for critically acclaimed Brisbane author Nick Earls. Winner of the Betty Trask award, Who Weekly called Zigzag Street "A comic masterpiece." Readers called it "seriously funny" and "Great Australian writing."