I love it when a book makes me laugh out loud - it's such a rare experience, but Nick Earls' 'Perfect Skin' did this to me a number of times.

Jon is a single dad, a laser surgeon, and coming to terms with how his life has changed irrevocably. Ash is from a country town in North Queensland, and has moved to Brisbane to complete post-graduate studies and to start afresh. Both have back stories far more complicated than they have been able to share with even their closest friends.

How does one deal properly with grief and guilt? Inside a story that moves quite quickly, there is a slow telling of what is at the heart of this story - what happened to Lily's mother, and why and just how difficult it is for Jon to talk about the situation. And then there's Katie and that damn cat, Flag.

As with his other novels, Earls places his characters unashamedly in Brisbane. It's fun (well I find it fun) to work out locations where I have been that appear in the story. Brisbane's weather becomes part of the setting for this story, especially when Elvis (the dog) holds Jon accountable for it.

I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable book to read. ( )

Set in Brisbane once more, ten years more or less after the events of Bachelor Kisses, Nick Earls once more takes us into the life, mostly romantic, frequently hilarious and often moving, of ex-hospital registrar now single dad and partner in a skin cancer clinic, Jon Marshall. The Go-Betweens have been shunted from high-rotation on the car stereo (although the sadly now late Grand McLennan, ex-Go-Bs, is still a favourite), replaced by the Lemonheads. I often yelped out loud with laughter, and was once again pleasantly confounded by an unconventional plot-line. Nick Earls is rapidly becoming a favourite, and I'm going to have to seek out the rest of his books at the earliest possible opportunity. ( )

This is one of my favourite books. It's wonderfully insightful and yet blackly funny. ( )