AustLit

'The publishing history of They're a Weird Mob and the manner in which this book and its fictional Italian narrator Nino Culotta shaped the life and career of John O'Grady (1907-81) are among the more extraordinary stories in the history of the book in Australia. Nino Culotta and They're a Weird Mob bear comparison with Steele Rudd and On Our Selection. Both comedies were unashamedly pitched at a local, popular market and both drew on vernacular language, Remarkable bestsellers, these books enjoyed an afterlife that extended way beyond their initial impact, in their print, radio, theatre and cinematic offspring. Both bound their authors to a series of returns to the original scene of their success.' (Introduction 24)