Angry at Breakfast: Ten Years of Editorials from The Saturday Paper

by Erik Jensen

Some of Australia's best political a dazzling chronicle from the editor of The Saturday Paper
Drawn from the first ten years of The Saturday Paper, these editorials tell the story of a country in trouble. They are a penetrating account of the people who have led Australia, fusing character studies with political insights and unvarnished rage. Taken together, they form a sparkling portrait of a lost decade. This is writing that is witty, curious and sharp-eyed.


'These editorials are my guiding light in these terrible times.' —Marcia Langton AO

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

290 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 13, 2024

About the author

Erik Jensen is an award-winning journalist, biographer, screenwriter and poet. He is the founding editor of The Saturday Paper and editor-in-chief of Schwartz Media. His first book, Acute Misfortune: The Life and Death of Adam Cullen, was made into an acclaimed feature film. He is also the author of On Kate Jennings, Quarterly Essay 74: The Prosperity Gospel and the poetry collection I Said the Sea Was Folded.

Reviews

[Jordan Wickham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic collection of editorials on recent modern Australian politics. Not my usual type of read but the punchy title and cover reeled me in and then I was hooked! Super easy to digest and was interesting to relive certain events from the past 10 years that had completely left my mind.

[Siajan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great interpretive writing from an Australian perspective about our crumbling political landscape. The chronological layout by PM tenure means you can actually pinpoint the second(s) when our country rips in half!!!

[emma curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

brilliantly written. such a good refresher of important auspol moments in the last 10 years but horrifying to see how little has changed in that time

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Angry at Breakfast: Ten Years of Editorials from The Saturday Paper by Erik Jensen is a razor-sharp chronicle of a decade in Australian politics, culture, and national identity. Compiled from Jensen’s tenure as founding editor of The Saturday Paper, the collection fuses political critique with literary insight, revealing how power, character, and consequence have shaped a country at a crossroads.

Each editorial reads as both commentary and cultural document precise in language, rich in observation, and infused with moral clarity. Jensen’s writing balances wit and weariness, outrage and introspection. Together, these essays form not only a record of a “lost decade,” but a meditation on journalism itself what it means to speak truth in an era of distortion.

Endorsed by Marcia Langton AO as “guiding light in these terrible times,” Angry at Breakfast is a testament to the enduring importance of intellectual integrity and public discourse. It is essential reading for those who still believe in the role of words to provoke, clarify, and demand accountability.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fantastic, would recommend to any Aussie

[LuckyBao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional, eloquent, biting journalism. It is exceptional in the best way, in that you not only want to know more about the world, but also to become a better writer.

It also makes you want to read The Saturday Paper, which puts this book leagues ahead of those cinema ads they keep persisting with.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great tool for gaging Australian politics, sadly the longer I’m here the more I realise my assumption it was a relaxed, left leaning country just doing its thing was completely wrong. It’s much more conservative and dysfunctional than I would’ve ever thought based on current headlines. There are also a lot of typos in this.

[Sophie Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angry at Breakfast is brilliantly written, shedding light on some of Australia’s most grim and consequential political decisions. The country has a deeply complicated and troubled history, and this book doesn’t shy away from exposing the failures of leadership that have shaped it.

I don’t usually read political books, but I was completely captivated and couldn’t put this down. From the cruel policies of the Howard era—like the handling of the Tampa crisis and the introduction of offshore detention—to Morrison’s inaction during the Black Summer bushfires and the vaccine rollout debacle, the book unpacks the devastating impact of these decisions with sharp insight. A compelling and important read.

[Loki · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this book is somewhat inaccurate - it's actually going to make you angry at whatever time you read it, not just breakfast time. It's a chronicle, through a selection of weekly editorials, of Australian federal politics, which means that above all else, it is a chronicle of corruption, venality, incompetence and moral cowardice, covering the years from Abbott through to the defeat of the Voice referendum that seems to have drained all spirit and courage from the Albanese government. It is, to paraphrase Gough, a chronicle of maintaining the rage.