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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'At once humorous and dramatic, Three Dollars is about Eddie, an honest, compassionate man who finds himself, at the age of 38, with a wife, a child and three dollars. How did he get that way? And who is Amanda? He cared about people; he was, Amanda notwithstanding, a good husband, father and son. At any other time the world would have smiled on him. But this was the nineties and the world valued other things. Three Dollars chronicles the present breach of the social contract and its effect on a home near you. It is a brilliantly deft portrait of a man attempting to retain his humanity, his family and his sense of humour in grim and pitiless times: times of downsizing, outsourcing and privatising. It is about the legacy of Thatcherism and its effects on people and their relationships.' (Synopsis)
Adaptations
-
form
y
Three Dollars
( dir. Robert Connolly
)
Australia
:
Arenafilm
,
2005
Z1354058
2005
single work
film/TV
'Based on Elliot Perlman's award-winning novel, THREE DOLLARS tells the story of an honest, compassionate man who finds himself, at the age of 38, with a wife, a child and three dollars.'
Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 16/12/2013)
Notes
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Discussion notes available.
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Voted by Victorian readers as their 'all time favourite book set in Victoria', as chosen from the Reading Victoria list of 20 novels 'Set Close to Home' in the State Library of Victoria's Summer Reading Programme 2006/7.
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Dedication: For Janine, Lena and Harry
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Epigraph: ...a man is not a piece of fruit!...You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away. - Arthur Miller Death of a Salesman.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Braille.
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
Silent Triumph of the Individual : Social Investigation through Empathy in Elliot Perlman's Three Dollars, Seven Types of Ambiguity, and The Street Sweeper
2013
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 27 no. 2 2013; (p. 197-202)'The novels of Elliot Perlman encompass a wide variety of social observations and criticism in both contemporary and historical settings. Each novel, Three Dollars, Types of Ambiguity, and The Street Sweeper, most definitely constitutes a recognition of suffering and a cry against inhumanity. However, the principal purpose of these novels is not to wallow in awfulness, nor is it solely to educate readers as to the harder realities of life. Here, Duthie examines Perlman's three novels. ' (Publication summary)
-
Now for the Movie
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: Australian Author , April vol. 45 no. 1 2013; (p. 26-29) 'When the film producer calls, asking to option your book, many authors feel a shiver of excitement. Five or even ten years later, many of them are still waiting. The process of adaptation can be even more tortuous than writing a book in the first place as prominent authors tell Anneli Knight.' -
'Something to Keep You Steady' : Egalitarianism and Distiction from D. H. Lawrence to Christos Tsiolkas
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , no. 9 2009; Interpretations , July vol. 43 no. 2010; (p. 35-42) 'This essay will examine the fiction of D. H. Lawrence, Elliot Perlman, and Christos Tsiolkas with regard to their representation of Australian society, particularly in comparison to the European past and present. Its guiding dynamic will be the opposition between the egalitarian 'mateship' that D. H. lawrence found, and was discomfited by, in 1922 and the economic neoliberalism and concomitant sense of 'distinction' (to use Pierre Bourdieu's term) that Perlman and Tsiolkas see in today's Australia and to the world in which Australia manifests itself.' -
Politics and Monomania
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Spring no. 184 2006; (p. 48-56) -
Empty Pockets : Robert Connolly Interviewed on Three Dollars
Jonathan Dawson
(interviewer),
2005
single work
interview
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , July - September no. 36 2005; 'Australian director Robert Connolly discusses his adaptation of Elliot Perlman's novel about the souring of the Australian dream in an age of economic rationalism.' (Editor's abstract)
-
Drama of Pitting Man Against Mammon
1998
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 1 March 1998; (p. 12)
— Review of Three Dollars 1998 single work novel -
Sober Visions of a Cold, Hard Future
1998
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 14 March 1998; (p. 23)
— Review of Three Dollars 1998 single work novel ; Snowdome 1998 single work novel -
Culture of Greed
1998
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 4-5 April 1998; (p. 27)
— Review of Three Dollars 1998 single work novel -
They Don't Write Like This in Sydney
1998
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 4 April 1998; (p. 9)
— Review of Three Dollars 1998 single work novel -
Long for the Money
1998
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 28 April vol. 117 no. 6120 1998; (p. 70-71)
— Review of Three Dollars 1998 single work novel -
The Book was Better
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Age , 9 April 2005; (p. 5) -
Life Not as We Know It
2005
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 14-15 May 2005; (p. 40) -
Politics and Monomania
2006
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Spring no. 184 2006; (p. 48-56) -
'Something to Keep You Steady' : Egalitarianism and Distiction from D. H. Lawrence to Christos Tsiolkas
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , no. 9 2009; Interpretations , July vol. 43 no. 2010; (p. 35-42) 'This essay will examine the fiction of D. H. Lawrence, Elliot Perlman, and Christos Tsiolkas with regard to their representation of Australian society, particularly in comparison to the European past and present. Its guiding dynamic will be the opposition between the egalitarian 'mateship' that D. H. lawrence found, and was discomfited by, in 1922 and the economic neoliberalism and concomitant sense of 'distinction' (to use Pierre Bourdieu's term) that Perlman and Tsiolkas see in today's Australia and to the world in which Australia manifests itself.' -
Empty Pockets : Robert Connolly Interviewed on Three Dollars
Jonathan Dawson
(interviewer),
2005
single work
interview
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , July - September no. 36 2005; 'Australian director Robert Connolly discusses his adaptation of Elliot Perlman's novel about the souring of the Australian dream in an age of economic rationalism.' (Editor's abstract)
Awards
- 1999 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
- 1999 joint winner Queensland Premier's Literary Awards — Best Literary Work Advancing Public Debate
- 1999 winner Betty Trask Prize and Awards
- 1999 joint winner The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist of the Year
- 1998 winner The Age Book of the Year Award — Book of the Year
- Melbourne, Victoria,