ZigZag Street is a 1996 novel written by Australian writer

Nick Earls Nicholas Francis Ward Earls (born 8 October 1963) is a novelist from Brisbane, Australia, who writes humorous popular fiction about everyday life. The majority of his novels are set in his home town of Brisbane. He fronted a major Brisbane tour ...

. It was Earl's second novel and won the

Betty Trask Award The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35, who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total £20,000, with one author receiving a larger prize amount, called the ...

in 1998, which it shared with Kiran Desai's Hullaballoo in the Guava Orchard. It has been compared with the work of

Nick Hornby Nicholas Peter John Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoir ''Fever Pitch'' and novels '' High Fidelity'' and '' About a Boy'', all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work f ...

. It was adapted for the stage by

Philip Dean Philip Dean is an Australian playwright. Biography Dean was born in rural Queensland and is a graduate of the Queensland College of Art and the University of Queensland. He lives in Brisbane. Plays Dean's writing for the stage includes ''Long ...

in 2004, playing at the

La Boite Theatre La Boite Theatre is an Australian theatre company based in Brisbane, Queensland. La Boite was established in 1925 and is Australia’s longest continuously running theatre company. Playing a vital role in the cultural landscape, La Boite Theat ...

before touring other cities.

Plot summary

Richard Derrington is a 28 year old corporate lawyer in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

struggling to cope after his girlfriend, Anna, has left him. He lives on Zig Zag Street in the suburb of Red Hill,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in his grandmother's former home. The novel follows his life over a six-week period as he continues to "mess things up", before finding new purpose and new love. The novel features a number of Brisbane landmarks, including

Broadway On the Mall Broadway on the Mall was a four-storey shopping mall, located in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, between the Queen Street Mall and Adelaide Street in the Brisbane central business district. It was developed by Mace Developments and Jennings ...

, Park Road in

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

as well as the eponymous Zig Zag Street (). It references British band

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

. Its reference to

Tim Tam Tim Tam is a brand of chocolate biscuit introduced by the Australian biscuit company Arnott's in 1964. It consists of two malted biscuits separated by a light hard chocolate cream filling and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. Hi ...

biscuits and other Queensland icons has made it a cultural favourite.

References

1996 Australian novels Novels set in Brisbane Australian novels adapted into plays English-language novels {{1990s-novel-stub