Cop This Lot

by Nino Culotta (Pseudonym), John O'Grady

Giovanni 'Nino' Culotta is an Italian immigrant, who came to Australia as a journalist, but became a brickie's labourer. Now, several years later, he is a builder, and married to Kay, with a daughter Maria and son Nino junior.

Nino decides to travel back to Italy to see his parents, and takes not only Kay, but his mates Joe and Dennis, who have never left Sydney. They travel by aeroplane and cargo ship and buy a cheap car in Germany to drive to Italy.

They arrive at the Cullota family villa, and Nino's father, a crusty patriach, is only concerned that Nino and Kay have not been 'properly' married by an Italian priest.

By the time they return to Sydney, Joe and Dennis, despite their working-class 'Ocker' background, have acquired a veneer of European sophistication, preferring wine to beer and unwilling even to get drunk.

Genres: Comedy, Fiction, Australia, Humor

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Nino Culotta is a pen name of John O'Grady.

Reviews

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cop This Lot is the sequel to the hugely popular They’re A Weird Mob by Nino Culotta, aka John O’Grady. Concern for his aging father has Nino travelling to Italy. But this is 1960 and one doesn’t just hop on a plane. Kay decides to leave Little Nino and baby Maria with her parents, and go to meet her in-laws. Soon Joe and Edie decide to come along as well; before long, Dennis is also to accompany them. Dennis and Joe’s dislike for dressing up means that they fly to Fiji with Nino to take a cargo ship to Europe, while the ladies take a passenger liner. As the cargo ship travels from Fiji, through Panama, to Liverpool, the men encounter a plethora of spoken English, which makes for plenty of humour as Nino makes observations about the many different versions of English spoken in the British Isles and colonies. Once in Europe, Joe’s quest for a good steak, eggs and a decent beer fails (except for the beer in Germany), but the men do find plenty of vino rosso, pasta and continental breakfasts. Culotta develops the characters so that Dennis becomes the brickie who reads, Joe the xenophobic who learns the value of other cultures and Kay and Edie women with a bit of independence. The strength of this book and its predecessor are in the word play, the feast of Aussie expressions, the banter between the characters and the misunderstanding of the use of the English language between two different cultures. Political correctness didn’t exist in 1960, so the reader needs to remember this when reading opinions that might otherwise cause offence. The message, once again thinly veiled, is anti-xenophobic. Probably not quite as good as They’re a Weird Mob, but still a fun read with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book showed up on a nightstand in a bed and breakfast while me and my parents were traveling through England, and I picked it up, thinking it was one of theirs. Apparently I ended up knicking somebody else's book, but it opened up a new world to me, and as a newly depressed 14 year old boy (what with just losing my hero Kurt Cobain so suddenly and having to face the terrifying world of high school once I got back home), it was the carefree, lovable chiding and "true blue" camaraderie of Joe, Dennis, and Nino that helped give me a new light.

I won't quite get into highlighting each character's lines in different colors or how I'd read them aloud in different voices, but this book really meant a lot to me!

[kaysei k ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirkily written using the dialect from many different cultures. A really great, light-hearted read, with emphasis on how friends become family, and how family are, well, still family.

[Greg Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

entertaining sequel to "They're a Weird Mob" with a dose of social comment on acceptance of immigrants

[Lyn Stapleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequel to They're a Weird Mob. Once again, quite funny but a bit outdated.

[Jack Sprat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readable. It picks up once the characters arrive in Italy. A few little laughs, but it has nothing on the wit and charm of the original.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the all time Australian greats. John O'Grady (R.I.P) really caught the spirit of Australia in the 50's and what many might refer to as true Aussie culture. Wonderful references to Aussie slang and catch-phrases of a by-gone era i.e. "Hit us in the eye with a hunk'o'dodger" ("pass the bread")! Nino Culotta finds his place in post-war Australia and into the '60's - a period I wish I had been around. Our country is certainly different now - for bad or worse.

[Kris McCracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequel to the hugely popular They're a Weird Mob. Largely the comic tale of rough-hewn Australian's abroad (in the early-1960s), like its predecessor it has aged surprisingly well. Worth a look. C+.