Analogue Men

An acutely perceptive paen to male midlife crisis, hilarious enough to prompt one similarly age-afflicted reviewer to laugh out loud on the bus.

Paul Robinson, Qantas magazine

There are some one-liners in Analogue Men by Nick Earls that are so funny I just accidentally laughed out loud! Gotta say, this book has the most realistic depiction of a modem Australian family I've ever read. I'm growing very fond of the characters.

Rebecca Sparrow

As with Earls' bittersweet The True Story of Butterfish there's a dark well of illicit desire bubbling beneath the "two kids and a house in the suburbs" surface here as Brian lusts after young women while his own body declines in farcical and repulsive style. Meanwhile, some of the sharpest comedy comes from Andrew's fumbling attempts to impart his limited and outdated knowledge about sex to his mortified children. As is Earls' wont, this doesn't move at a cracking pace, preferring to linger on the little moments of awkwardness, the unfortunate misunderstandings and small but soul-destroying slights. The action ramps up somewhat when a farcical turn of events straight out of the American Pie playbook ensues, but even at its most scatological and slapstick there's something sombre beneath the laughs, a lingering sense of disconnection and decay.

Daniel Herborn, The Sun-Herald

Nick Earls' new novel Analogue Men follows a middle-aged, middle-class, comfortably-off family man in tragi-comic existential crisis. Nick Earls is a skilled writer with a keen sense of what is happening in the digital industrial complex and how profoundly it affects work and life.

Juliette Hughes, The Sydney Morning Herald

It's physical comedy on the page and reflects a fundamental truth: ageing is not always done gracefully.

Amanda Ellis, The West Australian

Best known for writing books such as Bachelor Kisses and Zigzag Street, romantic comedies aimed at women in their late teens and 20s, Earls proves with this latest offering that he’s all growed up. That’s not to say the laughs have dried up – far from it – but this is an adult book for and about adults. This is, quite simply, a brilliant book. It is witty, literary and has chunks of pure slap-stick coupled with deep observations about generational difference and the way some people end up feeling left behind in a world so suddenly reliant upon iPads, wifi and the latest techno-gadgets. The characters are so sharply drawn, the dialogue so snappy and tight, that it feels like Earls has opened a window into the lives of real human beings. Each one is unique, endearing and strong in their own right, but it is Andrew and Brian who hold the spotlight.

Samantha Bond, InDaily Adelaide News

My rep passed me a copy of Analogue Men as an Easter gift. It was a true delight, and made my long weekend all the more enjoyable. I can't remember the last time I laughed so often, and what a pleasure to read your witty quips and descriptions masking thoughtful responses to being grown-up when you don't feel old enough (the wagyu crack could be applied to a few people out there…) Middle-age and generational-obsolescence are not for the wussy! Thank you for bringing us another light-hearted big-hearted novel, as always I look forward to sharing it with my discerning customers!

Lindy, Abbeys Bookstore

I laughed out loud reading Analogue Men. I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud reading a book.

Angela Duke