Hang on a Minute Mate is the second novel from 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...

 writer Barry Crump

Barry Crump

Barry John Crump MBE was a New Zealand author of semi-autobiographical comic novels based on his image as a rugged outdoors man...

. Published in 1961, in this book we are introduced to the character Sam Cash, who also appears in later Crump books. Sam is a "rough and ready" type, jack-of-all-trades, who operates to his own code of honour, challenges authority, and loves to spin a yarn (tell a long-winded and improbable story) at any opportunity. The characters and events of the book recall the post-WW2 years of New Zealand, and appeal to cherished national stereotypes of resourcefulness and independence.

After his runaway success with A Good Keen Man, Barry wrote his second book Hang On A Minute Mate in 1961. It was written in 3 weeks in a hut in central Wairarapa

Wairarapa

Wairarapa is a geographical region of New Zealand. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest...

. In 1992 the book had sold 155,000 copies just in New Zealand.