Stranger Thingies : From Felafel to now

by John Birmingham

John Birmingham is a master of good writing and funny lines. He has written a thousand stories, some true, some not so much. These are the best ones and they’re so good, and so funny, there has been no barrel-scraping involved. Really, this book could have been much longer.

The pieces contained within these pages run the gamut from the early felafel days to the shiny age we live in where Donald Trump is the President of the USA. And it does not shy away from the greatest controversy of our age: potato cake vs potato scallop.

These hilarious pieces cover a wide range of topics from food to fitness and politics to pork, in all its glories. And, of course, fashion. Ever the equal opportunist, John Birmingham skewers them all.

Genres: Nonfiction, Anthologies

319 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2017

About the author

John Birmingham grew up in Ipswich, Queensland and was educated at St Edmunds Christian Brother's College in Ipswich and the University of Queensland in Brisbane. His only stint of full time employment was as a researcher at the Defence Department. After this he returned to Queensland to study law but he did not complete his legal studies, choosing instead to pursue a career as a writer. He currently lives in Brisbane.

While a law student he was one of the last people arrested under the state's Anti Street March legislation. Birmingham was convicted of displaying a sheet of paper with the words 'Free Speech' written on it in very small type. The local newspaper carried a photograph of him being frogmarched off to a waiting police paddy wagon.

Birmingham has a degree in international relations.

Reviews

[Jennifer Medway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Read

Excellent - my husband and I wept with laughter, especially while reading Birmingham’s essay about walking his dog on the beach.

[Simon Robinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually love Birmingham's work. having first discovered it with his high-concept military science fiction time-displacement series World War 2.0. That was a fantastically rendered, 'what if?' following a 21st century fleet back into the midst of world war 2: a fascinating exploration of an extreme clash of cultures, moral dilemmas and ethical choices amongst all the action. Then there was Emergence series, a piss-take deconstruction of the superhero/monster genre that was hilarious, saucy and not a little purile. That led me to, 'He died with a falafel in his hand,' an earthy and in-your-face tongue in cheek autobiographical tale of his share-house life. But this work? a blatant cash-grab. Included were the original 'falafel' short story, and a collection of articles from years ago published in newspapers and online. I am usual determined to always finish. but this arvo, i just could not do the last two euphamistically labelled 'chapters'. John, if you are that hard up for a dollar, i'll send cash directly. i feel like you not only stole from my wallet, but my soul, and that piece of me that wants to give aussie authors a fair go. Enjoy the cash there in brissy, while us mexicans are locked up. hey.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a non-fiction collection of satirical articles. Some articles were great to read in retrospect. Others had lost their relevance.
Some are timeless and still amusing.

[Natalie S · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Birmingham is a satirist, newspaper columnist, writer and blogger. He’s also a man who knows how to find the funny in most situations. The cover of his latest book, Stranger Thingies sees comedian, Wil Anderson going so far as to say that if laughter is the best medicine then he’s claiming Birmingham’s book on Medicare. Stranger Thingies draws together Birmingham’s funniest columns from the last twenty years, from the famous “He Died with a Felafel in His Hand” through to his more recent musings on Donald Trump. It’s fascinating to see how his work and sense of humour has evolved over time and one thing’s for certain, Birmingham is like a master storyteller-come-detective in that he always knows where to find the “lulz.”

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[Karl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is hard to review as it is a collection of articles, stories and anecdotes written by JB over a number of years. There is some absolute genius in there but some has dated badly (although the descriptions of Scomo as a rage-prone zombie when he was the Minister for Immigration are still apt). A great read but you are better served with his fiction novels or his original study of Sydney, Leviathan which is a cracking read.

[Melanie Spain · Rating 2 out of 5]

I fell in love with John Birmingham in the early 2000s with He Died with a Falafel in His Hand, and hearing him speak at writers festivals (His eulogy to Andrew McGahn - breathtaking). This is a collection of his articles. If an article was on a topic I was unfamiliar with (e.g. Lounge suit Larry) it didn't really grab me. His domestic topics are, as expected, hilarious though. I still adore you John

[Andreas Sekeris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and great collection of opinion pieces from the last 25 years or so from John. I really enjoy his sense of humour and style of writing so this was great. I only didn’t give this five stars as I have a rule to not do that for collections of previously published bits.
The stories are dated but I understood all the references so loved them. Forgot how much Mia Freedman kept commenting on everything for clicks. Enjoyed the disgusting share house stories. All great.

[Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed but mostly awesome bag of Birmo's assorted columns, think pieces and book excerpts spanning about two decades of his output. You won't enjoy all of them (as he is quick to point out in the introduction), but you'll probably enjoy most of them.

[Jason McCracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The old stuff is still funny, the new stuff is very hit and miss, the political stuff is spot on, the Hunter S Thompson copycat stuff is just a bit sad. It's also nice to see that Birmingham has a serious crush on Paul Keating.

[Meredith Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

For people of a certain vintage, this is an especially entertaining take back to times when Save Ferris was a thing. It is a very readable collection of writings from John Birmingham on a variety of topics, always with his trademark tongue-in-cheek humour and satire. …. Probably my favourite of all his books.