It was Earl's second novel and won the Betty Trask Award in 1998, which it shared with Kiran Desai's Hullaballoo in the Guava Orchard.
[1] It was adapted for the stage by Philip Dean in 2004, playing at the La Boite Theatre[2] before touring other cities.
In Review called it part of "Brisbane’s Holy Trinity of Gen X Lit:... more of a sad-boy novel, eagerly related to by whiney lawyers.
"[3] Richard Derrington is a 28 year old corporate lawyer in Brisbane struggling to cope after his girlfriend, Anna, has left him.
He lives on Zig Zag Street in the suburb of Red Hill, Brisbane, Queensland in his grandmother's former home.