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The Half-Gallon Quarter-Acre Pavlova Paradise

Field	Value
name	The Half-Gallon Quarter-Acre Pavlova Paradise
image	The Half Gallon Quarter Acre Pavlova Paradise cover.jpg
author	Austin Mitchell
country	New Zealand
publisher	Whitcombe and Tombs
pub_date	1972
isbn	978-0-7233-0349-7
dewey	919.31/03/3027
congress	DU427 .M53
oclc	714880

The Half-Gallon Quarter-Acre Pavlova Paradise was a popular book by Austin Mitchell, published by Whitcombe and Tombs (Christchurch, 1972), with illustrations by Les Gibbard. It provided a witty, satirical description of life in 1960s New Zealand, and Kiwi culture.

Described as "a celebrated vision of New Zealand as heaven on earth", the book was a great success in New Zealand. The phrase "Half-Gallon Quarter-Acre Pavlova Paradise" soon became part of the New Zealand vernacular, with the term "quarter-acre pavlova paradise" being included in the Dictionary of New Zealand English. Mitchell revisited New Zealand 30 years after writing his original volume, and motivated by the social changes he observed, he penned a sequel entitled Pavlova Paradise Revisited.

Terminology

"Half Gallon", popularly called the "Half G", was the standard size of a flagon of beer then sold in New Zealand pubs
"Quarter Acre" referred to the ubiquitous suburban section of land on which most Kiwis built their homes
"Pavlova", a popular New Zealand dessert

References

(1972). "The Half-Gallon Quarter-Acre Pavlova Paradise". Whitcombe and Tombs.
"The 1960s".
Deverson, Tony. (August 2000). "From Staten Landt to Aotearoa New Zealand: The Naming of 'Pacific's Triple Star'". New Zealand Dictionary Centre.
(1997). "The Dictionary of New Zealand English: a dictionary of New Zealandisms on historical principles". [[Oxford University Press]].
(2002). "Pavlova Paradise Revisited: A guide to the strange but endearing land where Kiwis live". Penguin Books.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

1972-non-fiction-books new-zealand-books 1972-in-new-zealand comedy-books

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