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Steve Brook Steve Brook i(A82292 works by)
Born: Established: 1934 London,
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England,
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United Kingdom (UK),
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Western Europe, Europe, ;
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 y separately published work icon Smash the White Eagle! Steve Brook , Elwood : Rawprawn , 2013 6608486 2013 single work novel

'Australia has been colonized not by England, but by Poland. It was originally a prison colony for the most incorrigible Polish villains such as the notorious Pepek Janosik, a serial highway robber who was, ironically, eventually transported for trying to pass dud banknotes. Crucifixion, short term and terminal, is the preferred form of corporal and capital punishment. Australia's towns and cities mostly have Polish, sometimes Aboriginal names. The First Fleet in 1788 was commanded by Captain Karol Wojtyla from the Baltic port city of Gdansk. A few Anglo-Celts are around, working mostly in menial jobs. The most serious contribution they have made to the Australian fabric was their introduction of cricket which, as in India, became a national passion. To the national diet, they added fish and chips and a little later, kippers. There were several unsuccessful attempts to introduce meat pies. The Polish king is in Warsaw and functions as Australia's head of state. A Governor-General, appointed in Warsaw, is the local representative of the Polish Crown. There are occasional royal visits. This is the alternative historical context in which Pawel Kotarbinski, journalist, republican and putative author of this memoir, plays out his life.' (Publisher's blurb)
1 y separately published work icon Death by Teatowel Steve Brook , Elwood : Rawprawn , 2011 Z1817590 2011 single work novel 'Take a knotty murder mystery, add a dash of revolutionary nostalgia, mix in a few appeals to enlarge your penis and/or breasts, and you have Death by Teatowel, the latest eyebrow-lifter from the author who brought you McQuail, Bali Sugar, Now Hit Enter, For Sam and Strawberries with Everything.' (Publisher's blurb)
1 'Peacenik' Who Never Gave Up Ideals Steve Brook , 2010 single work obituary (for Norman Rothfield )
— Appears in: The Age , 12 June 2010; (p. 11)
1 y separately published work icon Now Hit Enter! : It All Began in Cyberspace Steve Brook , Elwood : Rawprawn , 2009 Z1817587 2009 single work novel 'In the recent past, Australia is governed by John Hurward and his Conservative Coalition. Rick Arrowsmith's spare time hobbies are a jazz programme on community radio 3VP, known to some as the Voice of Terror, and messing about with nubile young ladies on the Internet. He helps found a new social movement whose aim is to topple the anti-Hurward forces in Australia. Its first base is 3VP, but it soon outgrows its parent. The US, in the grip of the fundamentalist Christain Right, decides to invade Catholic Poland as a threat to its Protestant security. The Hurward government supports this move without even being told. You know what happens next, of course. This book re-defines the verb to rollick.' (Publication summary)
1 1 y separately published work icon For Sam : A Fantasy In Three Or So Acts Steve Brook , Melbourne : Rawprawn , 2009 Z1640064 2009 single work novel historical fiction 'Follows the career of a young man who, at various times in his disordered life, is a cinema ticket scalper, a sporting-house tout, an actor, a political extremist and a bogus spiritualist medium in a temple above a fish shop in London.' Source: Libraries Australia
1 2 y separately published work icon Strawberries with Everything : A Polish Odyssey 1966-1974 Steve Brook , St Kilda : Rawprawn , 2005 Z1259402 2005 single work autobiography travel 'Strawberries with everything brings a new tone to political memoirs. How did a nice Jewish boy finish up in a place like Poland? In sometimes hilarious detail, Steve Brook describes his early years in prewar London, the emigration of his family to Australia, and his eventual Aussification. While still in his teens he gets a heavy dose of Left politics. After a holiday in Poland, via London, he is offered a job at the Polish Radio in Warsaw. He spends eight years on the wrong side in the Cold War, with a ringside seat at some of the most significant events in European history including the Warsaw Dog Show, the "anti-Zionist" uproar of 1968 and the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia the same year.

He returns to Australia in 1974 and after numerous Candide-like adventures, he finds himself wondering if it was all worthwhile.

Of course it was.' (Publisher's blurb)
1 Taking the Micky out of Jesus Steve Brook , 2005 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Jewish News , 26 August Friday vol. 71 no. 49 2005; (p. 20)
— Review of Jesus, Judas and Mordy Ben Ruben : Three Good Jewish Boys in Jerusalem : A Novel Dick Gross , 2005 single work novel
1 1 y separately published work icon Bali Sugar : A Tale of Tropical Love, God and Politicking Steve Brook , Melbourne : Rawprawn , 2004 Z1159930 2004 single work novel 'Arnold Gold, married, two teenage children, wants to write a satire on pornography. But he feels constrained by the domestic demands of suburban Melbourne, and rents a room in Kuta, Bali. Now at last he can devote all his time to "Monica's Mouth". But of course, it is not to be. His new life is increasingly taken up by Dutch tourists, Australian Greeks, some decidedly odd religious fringe-dwellers and a beguiling local lady, who threatens to pull out the rug from under his existing marriage. Through her he also gets mixed up with Indonesian politics, the Australian media and a bloke he once thought of as a good friend. "Monica's Mouth" slips further and further into the background and Arnold breaks through into a completely new dimension. It could happen to anyone...' (Publisher's blurb)
1 y separately published work icon McQuail : A Likely Story Steve Brook , St. Kilda South : Rawprawn , 2003 Z1120464 2003 single work novel 'An illegitimate son of a Melbourne rabbi takes himself on a rutting spree and ends up in London. Somewhere along the way he manages to get married three times, father some children, found an entirely new religion, become an international celebrity, get sweatily involved with a Queensland politician and get deported from the USA.' (Publisher's blurb)
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