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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Frankie McCoy, a bookie from Paddington, Sydney, is drafted into the Australian Army during World War II. He ends up deserting and going on the run. His girlfriend Margie breaks up with him so he seeks solace in the arms of a more sexually experienced woman, Myra. He incurs gambling debts and robs a store, accidentally killing Myra. As the military police close in he is killed by a car.' (Publication summary)
Adaptations
-
form
y
You Can't See Round Corners
( dir. David Cahill
)
Sydney
:
Australian Television Network
,
1967
Z1037551
1967
series - publisher
film/TV
crime
A drama series set during the height of the Vietnam War, You Can't See Round Corners revolves around Frankie McCoy, a lonely, somewhat aggressive non-conformist who has spent all his life living in the inner-city suburb of Newtown. As the series progresses, McCoy is called up for National Service and although he initially fulfils his duty, he later deserts and heads back home to hide with friends. Other main characters include his girlfriend Margie and enemy Terry Howlett, the twenty-year-old leader of a small gang of thugs.
The television adaptation was contemporised by producer John Walters and screenwriter Richard Lane. Cleary's original novel is set in the Sydney suburb of Paddington during World War II. After deciding to bring the temporal setting forward to the (then) current Vietnam era, they also had to change the physical setting. Although Paddington had been a working-class suburb in the 1940s, the demographic had changed considerably by the 1960s. Newtown was subsequently considered the most appropriate location for a narrative set in a working-class suburb. Richard Lane records in Take One (1972) that he and Walters also deliberately introduced other contemporary issues into the narrative, notably the inclusion of the Greek community, which by the late 1960s had had an enormous impact on the Newtown district (p. 52).
-
form
y
You Can't See Round Corners
( dir. David Cahill
)
Australia
:
Amalgamated Television Services
,
1969
6621531
1969
single work
film/TV
crime
A film adaptation of Cleary's novel, which had been adapted as a television series two years earlier. This film used many of the same cast members as the television series.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also published as a sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Issues of Class and Gender in Australian Crime Fiction : From the 1950s to Today
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Sold by the Millions : Australia's Bestsellers 2012; (p. 96-111) In this chapter, Rachel Franks notes ‘‘Australian crime fiction writers imported many types of crime fiction from Britain, including the gothic mystery and the Newgate novel, and from America, including the locked room mystery and the spy story.’ She observes how Australian crime fiction has changed along with the ‘societies that produce it.’ She concludes that for Australian crime fiction to be attractive to mass market and an assured popularity, Australian crime fiction writers must respond ‘to the changing demands of their readers,’ and ‘continue to develop the genre with increasingly sophisticated stories about murderers and those who bring them to justice.’ (Editor’s foreword xii) -
Transpacific or Transatlantic Traffic? Australian Books and American Publishers
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Across the Pacific : Australia-United States Intellectual Histories 2010; (p. 339-359) 'This paper will attempt to describe the determining factors and structural patterns of relations between Australian books and American publishers from the 19th century to the present. Its central question will be: how did 'Australian books' find their way to American publishers? Can we discern any distinctive patterns over time or for particular genres, or simply an accumulation of one-off cases? To what extent, if at all, did the traffic in Australian books depend on cultural symmetries? Did Australian books travel as Australian or British books? In what ways were they dependent upon relations between Australian (or British) publishers or literary agents and their American counterparts? What role did international copyright regimes or trade agreements play? And how might the American connection change our understanding of 'Australian literature'?' (Author's abstract) -
Shopping for Words
1995
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Review , August no. 78 1995; (p. 12) -
It's No Crime to Profit by Good Writing
1989
single work
criticism
biography
— Appears in: The Saturday Mercury , 2 December 1989; (p. 22) -
[Review] The Mirage [et al]
1959
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 21 February 1959; (p. 19)
— Review of The Mirage 1955 single work novel ; The Aunt's Story 1948 single work novel ; You Can't See Round Corners 1947 single work novel
-
[Review] The Mirage [et al]
1959
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 21 February 1959; (p. 19)
— Review of The Mirage 1955 single work novel ; The Aunt's Story 1948 single work novel ; You Can't See Round Corners 1947 single work novel -
Untitled
1948
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Observer , 12 June 1948; (p. 64)
— Review of You Can't See Round Corners 1947 single work novel ; I Camp Here 1948 single work novel -
The Hero Goes A.W.L.
1948
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 4 August vol. 69 no. 3573 1948; (p. 2)
— Review of You Can't See Round Corners 1947 single work novel -
Novels of Family Life
1949
single work
review
— Appears in: John O'London's Weekly , 24 June 1949; (p. 379)
— Review of You Can't See Round Corners 1947 single work novel -
Untitled
1949
single work
review
— Appears in: The Times Literary Supplement , 23 April 1949; (p. 261)
— Review of You Can't See Round Corners 1947 single work novel -
Not For Publication
1948
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australasian Book News and Literary Journal , January vol. 2 no. 7 1948; (p. 350) Cleary's work is altered. Jack notes that the 1947 Who's Who in Australia "sets an astonishing precedent by ranking artists and writers as important people". Elsewhere, it's reported, Paul Feffer, a representative of American publisher Henry M. Snyder is seeking Australian manuscripts. -
Round the World
1948
single work
column
— Appears in: The Australasian Book News and Literary Journal , January vol. 2 no. 7 1948; (p. 392) -
Transpacific or Transatlantic Traffic? Australian Books and American Publishers
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Reading Across the Pacific : Australia-United States Intellectual Histories 2010; (p. 339-359) 'This paper will attempt to describe the determining factors and structural patterns of relations between Australian books and American publishers from the 19th century to the present. Its central question will be: how did 'Australian books' find their way to American publishers? Can we discern any distinctive patterns over time or for particular genres, or simply an accumulation of one-off cases? To what extent, if at all, did the traffic in Australian books depend on cultural symmetries? Did Australian books travel as Australian or British books? In what ways were they dependent upon relations between Australian (or British) publishers or literary agents and their American counterparts? What role did international copyright regimes or trade agreements play? And how might the American connection change our understanding of 'Australian literature'?' (Author's abstract) -
Issues of Class and Gender in Australian Crime Fiction : From the 1950s to Today
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Sold by the Millions : Australia's Bestsellers 2012; (p. 96-111) In this chapter, Rachel Franks notes ‘‘Australian crime fiction writers imported many types of crime fiction from Britain, including the gothic mystery and the Newgate novel, and from America, including the locked room mystery and the spy story.’ She observes how Australian crime fiction has changed along with the ‘societies that produce it.’ She concludes that for Australian crime fiction to be attractive to mass market and an assured popularity, Australian crime fiction writers must respond ‘to the changing demands of their readers,’ and ‘continue to develop the genre with increasingly sophisticated stories about murderers and those who bring them to justice.’ (Editor’s foreword xii) -
Shopping for Words
1995
single work
column
— Appears in: The Sydney Review , August no. 78 1995; (p. 12)
Awards
- Urban,
- Sydney, New South Wales,
- 1940s