Tagged: carl shuker

A review of Carl Shuker’s Lazy Boys

I’ve just read this review (link above), and I agree largely with it. I didn’t find this a surrealistist representation of life at the time either. Aspects of the story were all all too familiar and real to me. I don’t believe this is in any way a reflection on Otago/Dunedin or a reason to disuade someone from going to the university there however. It’s more a reflection of the kind of people some young adults find themselves becoming. For some, growing up is no picnic.

A review of Carl Shuker’s Lazy Boys

The lazy boys / Carl Shuker

I finally picked up a copy of Carl Shuker’s novel, The Lazy Boys, set in 1994. While delighted to find the main characters live in a named flat at 126 Dundas Street called Strangeways (named for the Smiths final studio album, Strangeways here we come) I was simultaneously riveted and repelled by the book. I was my 3rd year at Otago at the time the book was set. It brought back memories.

Carl is currently writing a screenplay of the book. Here’s article by the Timaru Herald about him.

The Lazy Boys / Carl Shuker

Went to pick this up from the library today but I’d misread my email and went too late to collect it.

“Students. In the 60s they burnt US flags; in the 70s they burnt bras; and in the 90s, in Dunedin, they started burning couches. Idealism was replaced by nihilism.” Read more from the Listener.

According to Carl Shuker’s website he’s writing the screenplay for the feature film of The Lazy Boys.

The Lazy Boys / Carl Shuker