Cup, the
By (Author) Dan Cleary
Illustrated by Trace Hodgson
Dan Cleary
Dan Cleary
23rd September 2011
New Zealand
General
Fiction
Paperback
148
Width 125mm, Height 200mm
The Cup - a short satirical novel. Brilliant. We needed a comic novel about the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and here it is. Like a direct decendant of Vincent O'Sullivan's 70s satire "Miracle", Dan Cleary's "The Cup" also has an affectionate and informed crack at rugby, politics and the unholy combination of the two through its central character, Baldy. Poor Baldy has been charged with running the preparations for the Rugby World Cup - and it turns out to be the worst job in New Zealand. Victoria Cartwright is a ratings-hungry TV journalist who gets on his case. It can't end well, can it Add in potshots at corporate sponsors, sports "medicine", Maori gangs, the dairy industry and NIMBYs, among other targets, and you have the comic novel about the 2011 Rugby World Cup we needed. - Stephen Stratford (author and book award judge).