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Headgames
Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso
288 pages, Hardcover
First published March 31, 1999
10 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Nick Earls
74 books172 followersNick Earls is the author of twelve books, including bestselling novels such as Zigzag Street, Bachelor Kisses, Perfect Skin and World of Chickens. His work has been published internationally in English and also in translation, and this led to him being a finalist in the Premier of Queensland’s Awards for Export Achievement in 1999.
Zigzag Street won a Betty Trask Award in the UK in 1998, and is currently being developed into a feature film. Bachelor Kisses was one of Who Weekly’s Books of the Year in 1998. Perfect Skin was the only novel nominated for an Australian Comedy Award in 2003, and has recently been filmed in Italy.
He has written five novels with teenage central characters. 48 Shades of Brown was awarded Book of the Year (older readers) by the Children’s Book Council in 2000, and in the US it was a Kirkus Reviews selection in its books of the year for 2004. A feature film adapted from the novel was released in Australia by Buena Vista International in August 2006, and has subsequently screened at festivals in North America and Europe. His earlier young-adult novel, After January, was also an award-winner.
After January, 48 Shades of Brown, Zigzag Street and Perfect Skin have all been successfully adapted for theatre by La Boite, and the Zigzag Street play toured nationally in 2005.
Nick Earls was the founding chair of the Australian arm of the international aid agency War Child and is now a War Child ambassador. He is or has also been patron of Kids Who Make a Difference and Hands on Art, and an honorary ambassador for both the Mater Foundation and the Abused Child Trust. On top of that, he was the face of Brisbane Marketing’s ‘Downtown Brisbane’ and ‘Experience Brisbane’ campaigns.
His contribution to writing in Queensland led to him being awarded the Queensland Writers Centre’s inaugural Johnno award in 2001 and a Centenary Medal in 2003. His work as a writer, in writing industry development and in support of humanitarian causes led to him being named University of Queensland Alumnus of the Year in 2006. He was also the Queensland Multicultural Champion for 2006.
He has an honours degree in Medicine from the University of Queensland, and has lived in Brisbane since migrating as an eight-year-old from Northern Ireland in 1972. London’s Mirror newspaper has called him ‘the first Aussie to make me laugh out loud since Jason Donovan’. His latest novel is Joel and Cat Set the Story Straight, co-written with Rebecca Sparrow.
Zigzag Street won a Betty Trask Award in the UK in 1998, and is currently being developed into a feature film. Bachelor Kisses was one of Who Weekly’s Books of the Year in 1998. Perfect Skin was the only novel nominated for an Australian Comedy Award in 2003, and has recently been filmed in Italy.
He has written five novels with teenage central characters. 48 Shades of Brown was awarded Book of the Year (older readers) by the Children’s Book Council in 2000, and in the US it was a Kirkus Reviews selection in its books of the year for 2004. A feature film adapted from the novel was released in Australia by Buena Vista International in August 2006, and has subsequently screened at festivals in North America and Europe. His earlier young-adult novel, After January, was also an award-winner.
After January, 48 Shades of Brown, Zigzag Street and Perfect Skin have all been successfully adapted for theatre by La Boite, and the Zigzag Street play toured nationally in 2005.
Nick Earls was the founding chair of the Australian arm of the international aid agency War Child and is now a War Child ambassador. He is or has also been patron of Kids Who Make a Difference and Hands on Art, and an honorary ambassador for both the Mater Foundation and the Abused Child Trust. On top of that, he was the face of Brisbane Marketing’s ‘Downtown Brisbane’ and ‘Experience Brisbane’ campaigns.
His contribution to writing in Queensland led to him being awarded the Queensland Writers Centre’s inaugural Johnno award in 2001 and a Centenary Medal in 2003. His work as a writer, in writing industry development and in support of humanitarian causes led to him being named University of Queensland Alumnus of the Year in 2006. He was also the Queensland Multicultural Champion for 2006.
He has an honours degree in Medicine from the University of Queensland, and has lived in Brisbane since migrating as an eight-year-old from Northern Ireland in 1972. London’s Mirror newspaper has called him ‘the first Aussie to make me laugh out loud since Jason Donovan’. His latest novel is Joel and Cat Set the Story Straight, co-written with Rebecca Sparrow.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
January 23, 2016
this is a great collection of short stories, all centred around the theme of "headgames". and its true, nick earls' stories will make your head spin. this collection of 18 different stories really show that nick earls is capable of a huge range of different genres and voices in his work. they range from the insanely bizarre to the black comedy and the twisted and the simple and sympathetic.
some of the most impacting ones i found were "Problems With a Girl and a Unicorn" and "Dog One, Dog Two." they're great examples of black comedy and stories with a great and well-executed twist. it was the first time i read this type of work from nick earls and i profoundly enjoyed it. it really shows how strong and creepy the 2nd person point of view can be.
my favourite stories were
"All Those Ways of Leaving" -subtle, comic and touching.
"Headgames" - a simple and beautiful character study.
"The Goatflap Brothers and the House of Names" - something weird and wacky, but strangely amused and really suited me.
"Twenty-minute Hero" - short and sweet.
"Box Shaped Heart." - it's painful to read at times, but such a sad and true picture of being unwell and struggling.
other notable stories:
"Nights at the Palace"- awesome idea, awesome story, great execution. best twist ever.
"Plaza" - weirdest thing ever. its like a nightmare, a real adventure into a weird dimension.
"Moving" - fricking intense. really.
the weakest stories for me were "PE" and "There Must Be Lions." "PE" had great potential and twist (a bit of a Paul Jennings feel, really) but was drawn out way too much. it got too repetitive and the final punch seemed weak because of it.
I could see what "There Must Be Lions" was trying to get at, but to me, it kind of missed. it had great potential and some lovely lines and sections, and characterization in there though.
sandwiched in between are chilled-out, slice-of-life university life stories of Philby and Frank and their adventures with green alcoholic beverages and picking up chicks by making soft serve icecreams with a clockwise swirl.
all in all, a very decent selection of stories for such a large collection. :) nick earls is an incredibly skilled and varied writer, and i'm eager for more!
some of the most impacting ones i found were "Problems With a Girl and a Unicorn" and "Dog One, Dog Two." they're great examples of black comedy and stories with a great and well-executed twist. it was the first time i read this type of work from nick earls and i profoundly enjoyed it. it really shows how strong and creepy the 2nd person point of view can be.
my favourite stories were
"All Those Ways of Leaving" -subtle, comic and touching.
"Headgames" - a simple and beautiful character study.
"The Goatflap Brothers and the House of Names" - something weird and wacky, but strangely amused and really suited me.
"Twenty-minute Hero" - short and sweet.
"Box Shaped Heart." - it's painful to read at times, but such a sad and true picture of being unwell and struggling.
other notable stories:
"Nights at the Palace"- awesome idea, awesome story, great execution. best twist ever.
"Plaza" - weirdest thing ever. its like a nightmare, a real adventure into a weird dimension.
"Moving" - fricking intense. really.
the weakest stories for me were "PE" and "There Must Be Lions." "PE" had great potential and twist (a bit of a Paul Jennings feel, really) but was drawn out way too much. it got too repetitive and the final punch seemed weak because of it.
I could see what "There Must Be Lions" was trying to get at, but to me, it kind of missed. it had great potential and some lovely lines and sections, and characterization in there though.
sandwiched in between are chilled-out, slice-of-life university life stories of Philby and Frank and their adventures with green alcoholic beverages and picking up chicks by making soft serve icecreams with a clockwise swirl.
all in all, a very decent selection of stories for such a large collection. :) nick earls is an incredibly skilled and varied writer, and i'm eager for more!
January 25, 2011
The short story is a horribly difficult form of writing to master. With this collection Brisbane Writer Nick Earles, who is one of those irritating blokes who seems to be able to turn his hand to just about anything, from young adult fiction to cameo appearances in films, proves that he's no slouch when it comes to short form narrative, either.
I first read Headgames about eight or nine years ago, when my wife and I were living in Brisbane, just a couple of streets away from Nick, and he and I used to bump into one another occasionally at various functions. At the time, three stories in it really got my attention - (and I'm going to be deliberately broad here, so as not to telegraph anything important about the stories in question) one involving a swimming pool, in which the atmospherics are just perfectly evoked, another involving a hairdresser which is a masterful exercise in both humour and character and, finally, the unicorn story. This last one, if nothing else, has one of the funniest final lines of any short story I've ever read.
I re-read a couple of these recently, as part of a course I'm putting together, and they're just as good now.
So, if you're looking for a meander into the world of short stories, you could do a lot worse than to dig out a copy of 'Headgames'.
I first read Headgames about eight or nine years ago, when my wife and I were living in Brisbane, just a couple of streets away from Nick, and he and I used to bump into one another occasionally at various functions. At the time, three stories in it really got my attention - (and I'm going to be deliberately broad here, so as not to telegraph anything important about the stories in question) one involving a swimming pool, in which the atmospherics are just perfectly evoked, another involving a hairdresser which is a masterful exercise in both humour and character and, finally, the unicorn story. This last one, if nothing else, has one of the funniest final lines of any short story I've ever read.
I re-read a couple of these recently, as part of a course I'm putting together, and they're just as good now.
So, if you're looking for a meander into the world of short stories, you could do a lot worse than to dig out a copy of 'Headgames'.
November 28, 2024
This was one of the weirdest short story collections I've ever read. It's just weird enough that I feel baffled; and yet, at the same time, there are stories included with pathos and a great feeling to them of human understanding. The range reflects the anthology nature of the book and I think they are packaged together not because the author thinks they represent a coherent anthology, but because this way they are all published together - Nick Earls writes explicitly that this simply takes earlier published work and combines it.
I knew before looking at the author page that Earls was from Queensland and that he had studied medicine - there is too much here of both undergraduate study, and of the suffering and misunderstanding involved in illness.
There were one or two one-liners in this that were so good that I will be trying to remember them for years to come.
Not for young readers; but anyone from 15 onwards might get a kick out of this, depending on their sense of humour.
I knew before looking at the author page that Earls was from Queensland and that he had studied medicine - there is too much here of both undergraduate study, and of the suffering and misunderstanding involved in illness.
There were one or two one-liners in this that were so good that I will be trying to remember them for years to come.
Not for young readers; but anyone from 15 onwards might get a kick out of this, depending on their sense of humour.
July 14, 2025
A book of short stories by Nick Earls; what a delightful surprise. Somehow this had sat on my shelves for years without me realising I’d yet to read it, especially since it’s a signed copy. I’m delighted that I’ve now read and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Some stories are linked, especially those (including the first and last) featuring characters Frank and Philby, mainly as medical students.
Most are humorous, as I would have expected, and even the few sad (and/or painful) ones include at least a humorous touch or three. And of how many books could you say the acknowledgments are worth reading for the humour? These are.
Some stories are linked, especially those (including the first and last) featuring characters Frank and Philby, mainly as medical students.
Most are humorous, as I would have expected, and even the few sad (and/or painful) ones include at least a humorous touch or three. And of how many books could you say the acknowledgments are worth reading for the humour? These are.
August 2, 2024
2.5 ✨ I love a short story and can admit I have high expectations from the form, but this one unfortunately fell a bit flat.
I could not stop laughing towards the end of the first chapter however none of the other stories reached that peak again (for me anyway).
I could not stop laughing towards the end of the first chapter however none of the other stories reached that peak again (for me anyway).
March 12, 2018
Some stories are good, some leave a lot to be desired
January 9, 2019
Light hearted and funny short stories.
June 27, 2020
More of a 2.5. Loved some of the stories, but a lot were sort of meh and underdeveloped, but not in a nice vignette way.
April 26, 2021
One of my most favourite Australian authors. Great characters, funny short stories.
September 3, 2021
Very random in some parts, not something you should take too seriously. Takes some everyday things and puts a spin on it.
January 6, 2025
2.5* mixed bag of short stories..some sensitive writing, others very blah
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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March 18, 2021A collection of short stories interspersed with a series of the adventures of Frank and Philby, two students who meet at med school. Many of the stories are hilarious, while some verge on the surreal.
The adventures of Frank and Philby follow their first meeting at med school and how their friendship started, and after a number of funny and often embarrassing incidents to the final instalment when the two young men are in their thirties and somehow involves fish and Keanu Reeves. Frank and Philby are two opposites, Frank super cool - and although he often gets it wrong he still manages to get the girl, while Philby has a confidence problem and never seems to have success. But they make a team, and an inseparable pair. (Frank and Philby's adventures of their 5th year at med school are told at length in Nick Earls' World of chickens)
Other stories feature the problems of sharing an apartment with a jealous unicorn, lions that roam the wards at night, a guy who fixates on the woman who cuts his hair, the family in witness protection that cannot settle, a shopping mall that appears to go on forever, and the man who wants to change his name, to the more thoughtful story about the young student with a heat condition.
Nick Earl has a great sense for the comic especially where it concerns young men and their preoccupations. But there is also a touch of satire to be found here and a sure perceptiveness. The writing is confident and assured, the stories varied but always entertaining, a worthwhile read.
The adventures of Frank and Philby follow their first meeting at med school and how their friendship started, and after a number of funny and often embarrassing incidents to the final instalment when the two young men are in their thirties and somehow involves fish and Keanu Reeves. Frank and Philby are two opposites, Frank super cool - and although he often gets it wrong he still manages to get the girl, while Philby has a confidence problem and never seems to have success. But they make a team, and an inseparable pair. (Frank and Philby's adventures of their 5th year at med school are told at length in Nick Earls' World of chickens)
Other stories feature the problems of sharing an apartment with a jealous unicorn, lions that roam the wards at night, a guy who fixates on the woman who cuts his hair, the family in witness protection that cannot settle, a shopping mall that appears to go on forever, and the man who wants to change his name, to the more thoughtful story about the young student with a heat condition.
Nick Earl has a great sense for the comic especially where it concerns young men and their preoccupations. But there is also a touch of satire to be found here and a sure perceptiveness. The writing is confident and assured, the stories varied but always entertaining, a worthwhile read.
January 19, 2012
This little book compiles a few short stories by Earls. They range from the sublime (All Those Ways of Leaving) to the ridiculous (Problems with a Girl and a Unicorn). The main characters from World of Chickens show up in several, giving the whole book a sort of linking device. Overall patchy but quick. Rated M for all sorts of things. 3/5
April 2, 2011
I light hearted funny read - probably fits in the chick lit category.
Check out the full www.ourbookclub.net.au review at
Headgames
Check out the full www.ourbookclub.net.au review at
Headgames
July 16, 2011
I really love most of these stories. Green being my absolute favourite. Growing up in Brisbane at the same time as the author (who I've never met), his experiences are familiar while different, a male perspective to my female-centric one. Did the boys I date really carry on like this?
October 20, 2014
Not one of his best. Some amusing bits, and of course, always like the familiarity of Brisbane and university times. Except for the main focus on Philby and Frank, the rest of the stories were a bit try-hardish. Just wasn't my thing.
January 15, 2015
I just couldn't get into this book, perhaps because it was a collection of short stories rather than a full length novel or just the way it was written. Whatever the reason I didn't enjoy the parts I read and had to stop reading a little way into it.
May 4, 2010
Short stories.
April 20, 2012
I usually shy away from short stories, for fear of being left unfulfilled.
I'm pleased to say this one has left me with a smile, and the urge to read "Robinson Crusoe".
I'm pleased to say this one has left me with a smile, and the urge to read "Robinson Crusoe".
January 2, 2016
Some of these short stories were OK, others were just bad, and the one about sharing a house with a unicorn was bad and just very weird.
December 23, 2015
A collection of short stories varying in humour and eccentricity. 'The Goatflap Brothers and the House of Names' gets everything right. Beware the unicorns and lions.
February 23, 2016
Wasn't really my taste. read 100 pages.
March 25, 2017
It was certainly something, I couldn't get into it.
Some of the stories were better than others.
Some of the stories were better than others.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews