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A Patriarchy of Pricks
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August 10, 2026
There’s a picture of Joseph Stalin coming out of a washing machine on the cover of A Patriarchy of Pricks, and honestly, I burst out laughing the first time I saw it. Without even reading the blurb, my immediate assumption was: this is going to be funny, and thankfully, I was absolutely right.
Some chapters begin with something as ordinary as a community meeting, only to suddenly have a group of Indian diaspora members discussing something completely absurd, like attracting more white people and getting them onto the committee, before somehow deciding to hire a detective.
WTF?
And then the next chapter simply jumps straight into hiring the detective and introduces us to Horonath. From there, the book becomes one wonderfully chaotic and humorous ride involving an amateur detective, a missing scientist, a time machine that is actually a washing machine, and encounters with historical figures like Nehru, Mountbatten, Churchill and Stalin.
Beneath all the absurdity, Roy explores the Indian diaspora, belonging, identity, Australian society, history and patriarchy without ever making the book feel like a lecture.
Somewhere along my literary journey, I lost my appetite for humour and started gravitating towards heavier, more serious reads.
A Patriarchy of Pricks completely rekindled my love for a good satire. It reminded me that literature can be absurd, ridiculous, clever and genuinely funny while still having something meaningful to say. I absolutely loved this book.
Some chapters begin with something as ordinary as a community meeting, only to suddenly have a group of Indian diaspora members discussing something completely absurd, like attracting more white people and getting them onto the committee, before somehow deciding to hire a detective.
WTF?
And then the next chapter simply jumps straight into hiring the detective and introduces us to Horonath. From there, the book becomes one wonderfully chaotic and humorous ride involving an amateur detective, a missing scientist, a time machine that is actually a washing machine, and encounters with historical figures like Nehru, Mountbatten, Churchill and Stalin.
Beneath all the absurdity, Roy explores the Indian diaspora, belonging, identity, Australian society, history and patriarchy without ever making the book feel like a lecture.
Somewhere along my literary journey, I lost my appetite for humour and started gravitating towards heavier, more serious reads.
A Patriarchy of Pricks completely rekindled my love for a good satire. It reminded me that literature can be absurd, ridiculous, clever and genuinely funny while still having something meaningful to say. I absolutely loved this book.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review