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'Toby, former speechwriter to the PM, has reached a new low- locked behind bars in a high-security prison, with sentient PlayStations storming the city outside, and the worst of Australia's criminals forcing him to ghost-write letters to their loved ones or have his spine repurposed as a coat-rack. How did he get here? From the vantage point of his prison cell, Toby pens his memoir, trying to piece together how he fell so far, all the while fielding the uninvited literary opinions of his murderous cellmate, Gary.
'What Toby unspools is a tale of twisted bureaucracy, public servants gone rogue, and the ever-present pervasive stench of rotting prawns (don't ask). Realising that his political career is far from the noble endeavour he'd once imagined it would be, Toby makes a bid for freedom ... before the terrible realisation dawns- it's impossible to get fired from the public service. Refusing to give up (or have to pay for his relocation fee), Toby's attempts to get fired grow more and more extreme, and he finds himself being propelled higher and higher through the ranks of bureaucracy.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Dedication : 'For Stel & Tilly'
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Epigraph : 'The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.' - Ecclesiastes 7:4
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Epigraph : 'And other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?' - Unknown
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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National Character
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin , September / Spring vol. 80 no. 3 2021; (p. 211-215)
— Review of The Speechwriter 2021 single work novel 'Early in The Speechwriter, I encounter a scenario where Donald Trump instructs Don Jr to ‘hijack Air Force Two and suicidally steer the plane into Disneyland ... Congress is still split on impeachment.’ As I read it for the first time shortly after Joe Biden’s inauguration—by that point just a month after the storming of the US Capitol by right-wing men dressed in fur and horned helmets, with debate over impeachment raging—I realise that the fictional Don Jr situation doesn’t feel shocking. In a time defined by utter shamelessness, satire has become even more difficult: it’s impossible to reveal the powerful as hypocritical when they proudly promote themselves as grotesque. Worse, their audiences either don’t seem to care or actively love it.'(Introduction)
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Elevator Pitches : Three Experimental Novels
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 434 2021; (p. 55-56)
— Review of Night Blue 2021 single work novel ; Where the Line Breaks 2021 single work novel ; The Speechwriter 2021 single work novel'Writers seeking publication are often advised to have an ‘elevator pitch’ ready. These succinct book-hooks are designed to jag a trapped publisher in the wink between a lift door closing and reopening. Has this insane tactic ever actually worked? No idea. But it’s fun to imagine the CEO of Big Sales Books, on their way up to another corner-office day of tallying cricket memoir profits, blindsided by three of the looniest elevator pitches imaginable. A novel narrated by Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles! A faux political memoir about a prime minister and his shark vendetta! An academic satire cum historical mystery mashup told largely through the – wait, wait, wait! – footnotes of a PhD thesis! That CEO will probably take the stairs next time, but kudos to the independent publishers who saw the potential in these experimental works and their début authors. Whatever the path of weird Australian writing, long may it find its way to these pages.' (Introduction)
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The Speechwriter by Martin McKenzie-Murray Review – Larrikin Maximalism and Undergraduate Snicker
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 29 January 2021;
— Review of The Speechwriter 2021 single work novel'The first novel by this former speechwriter aims to provoke but its easy parodies of Australian politics are unlikely to elicit more than a shrug.;
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The Speechwriter by Martin McKenzie-Murray Review – Larrikin Maximalism and Undergraduate Snicker
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 29 January 2021;
— Review of The Speechwriter 2021 single work novel'The first novel by this former speechwriter aims to provoke but its easy parodies of Australian politics are unlikely to elicit more than a shrug.;
-
Elevator Pitches : Three Experimental Novels
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 434 2021; (p. 55-56)
— Review of Night Blue 2021 single work novel ; Where the Line Breaks 2021 single work novel ; The Speechwriter 2021 single work novel'Writers seeking publication are often advised to have an ‘elevator pitch’ ready. These succinct book-hooks are designed to jag a trapped publisher in the wink between a lift door closing and reopening. Has this insane tactic ever actually worked? No idea. But it’s fun to imagine the CEO of Big Sales Books, on their way up to another corner-office day of tallying cricket memoir profits, blindsided by three of the looniest elevator pitches imaginable. A novel narrated by Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles! A faux political memoir about a prime minister and his shark vendetta! An academic satire cum historical mystery mashup told largely through the – wait, wait, wait! – footnotes of a PhD thesis! That CEO will probably take the stairs next time, but kudos to the independent publishers who saw the potential in these experimental works and their début authors. Whatever the path of weird Australian writing, long may it find its way to these pages.' (Introduction)
-
National Character
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin , September / Spring vol. 80 no. 3 2021; (p. 211-215)
— Review of The Speechwriter 2021 single work novel 'Early in The Speechwriter, I encounter a scenario where Donald Trump instructs Don Jr to ‘hijack Air Force Two and suicidally steer the plane into Disneyland ... Congress is still split on impeachment.’ As I read it for the first time shortly after Joe Biden’s inauguration—by that point just a month after the storming of the US Capitol by right-wing men dressed in fur and horned helmets, with debate over impeachment raging—I realise that the fictional Don Jr situation doesn’t feel shocking. In a time defined by utter shamelessness, satire has become even more difficult: it’s impossible to reveal the powerful as hypocritical when they proudly promote themselves as grotesque. Worse, their audiences either don’t seem to care or actively love it.'(Introduction)