Dirty Work (New Zealand novel)
Encyclopedia
Dirty Work is a 1987
novel
by New Zealand
author Nigel Cox.
Cox's second novel
(after his debut, Waiting for Einstein), Dirty Work is set in Wellington City
, New Zealand, in the mid-1980s. The book revolves around the lives of staff and guests in the Happy World, a low-rent hotel
, and the conflict between the hotel
owner, Hendrick van Eesen ('Hendy'), and his newly hired shift manager, Gina Tully.
The novel won the Bucklands Memorial Literary Prize shortly after its release, and was also optioned for film.
In 2006, the book was re-published by Victoria University Press
, based in Wellington
.
1987 in literature
The year 1987 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Wolfe was paid $5 million for the film rights to his novel, The Bonfire of the Vanities, the most ever earned by an author, at the time.-Fiction:...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
author Nigel Cox.
Cox's second novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
(after his debut, Waiting for Einstein), Dirty Work is set in Wellington City
Wellington City
Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Wellington city extends as far north as Linden, and includes the rural areas of Makara and Ohariu. It is New Zealand's third-largest city, behind Auckland and Christchurch.Wellington attained city status in...
, New Zealand, in the mid-1980s. The book revolves around the lives of staff and guests in the Happy World, a low-rent hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
, and the conflict between the hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
owner, Hendrick van Eesen ('Hendy'), and his newly hired shift manager, Gina Tully.
The novel won the Bucklands Memorial Literary Prize shortly after its release, and was also optioned for film.
In 2006, the book was re-published by Victoria University Press
Victoria University Press
Victoria University Press founded in the 1970s, is the book publishing arm of Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.It publishes new fiction and poetry and specialises in New Zealand history, biography and essays.-Sources:...
, based in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
.
Trivia
- A manuscript written by one of the book's main characters, entitled "Tarzan of the Apes", has a plotline closely resembling that of Cox's fourth novel, Tarzan Presley, published in 2002.
External links
- Victoria University Press Official publishers' website.