The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco

by John Birmingham

The flatmates at York Street are broke and desperate, so they take in a new guy despite the Celine Dion albums and the hoardes of fluffy stuffed animals. Soon he goes missing, with half the household possessions and all the rent. The flatmates have one week to sober up, find two thousand dollars and catch the runaway before Pauline Hansen, the federal government, assorted cops and crims, their landlord and some very angry lesbians tear their house down and stomp them to jelly.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Australia, Comedy

245 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1996

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

[🐴 🍖]

differs from felafel in that this one has a plot, or gestures at a plot, or gestures at the idea of gesturing at a plot. it's like if you picked the earlier book up off the floor, shook it out, & put it on a coat hanger. w/ all the suspicious stains intact, mind you. idk man this stuff is catnip; i must have been a gen-x australian pothead in a past life.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have spent any time around Australian university students, you may just be able to appreciate this riot of a book. Written in a mad, pot smoking, alcohol drinking overcrowded shared house of university students, it brings forward all the awful, odd, hilariously stupid, self-bound, nut bag characters. With a few central characters who are slightly grounded, the chaos and cyclone of mayhem that surrounds them is a hoot. I don't know if the personalities, political student enthusiasts, confrontations with the police, hairy lesbian characters, furious bikies and air-drying nudist hippies will make sense to readers who don't have experience/ knowledge of Queensland university life. This book is on my "pickup for a familiar fun read" shelf.

[Ollie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This novel was a strange disappointment. It started out full of promise, with a cast of characters rich with comic potential, but soon descended into very self-satisfied lazy writing and a whole load of uninteresting back story that had me give it up around page 107. Watch out Douglas Coupland, you've got competition!

A large group of young people from various backgrounds share a house in Brisbane. When one of the roommates steals the rent money, it's up to the rest of the roommates to figure out where he might be, leading them on an investigation into the previous houseshares he belonged to. Because it's a sequel, the narrator many times asks the reader to remember so-and-so from the previous book and then uses that as the basis for some new character's description. Dialogue is often pointless and unnecessary and characters are barely sketched out and mostly indistinguishable. There's a whole load of telling without much showing, and the dramatic tension seems to have disappeared with the rent money at the start of the story.

It's a shame really because I was hoping this novel would give me a little insight into Brisbane (where a good friend of mine has currently moved to) and its slacker culture. I'll just have to hope that one day another Brisbanite (?) writer will satisfy my curiosity.

[Jacobmartin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco is a book by John Birmingham which is the sequel to his previous book He Died With A Felafel In His Hand - available in both a book version and a comic book edition - but Tasmanian Babes is at this point book form only.

With some prior knowledge to the details of Felafel from the Comic Edition, I’m sort of aware of the characters that reappear in this sequel. Some of the faces are entirely new, like Missy the Malaysian party girl, Jordan the moocher who steals all of JB’s household’s stuff, and Stace who’s a photographer in training.

Let me tell you, this is a fun read but make no mistake, this is a hard-hitting, brutal book. Unlike Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas which the style of JB’s writing is inspired by, there’s some definite hard-looks at what the characters have done with their lives living like this for so long. The book consists of a week in JB’s shared house, peppered with stories and anecdotes shared by other housemates of people JB got the permission of to use parts of their stories in this novel with the names changed.

It’s a fun read, at least until you get to the Generation X angst which can be a bit off putting for younger readers who aren’t in the Gen X mindset. This Aussie tale chronicles both Left and Right wing politics down under, the visage of Pauline Hanson on a billboard is characterised in a way that any real characterisation of the woman herself would be slander probably. It documents a very strange time in Australian history, when racism was rife but the Left in their compensation for this were just as bad at forcing their beliefs on people. The descriptions of the chaos that ensues are amazing - no doubt some of the best tone and atmosphere I’ve read in a book in a long time.

I’d recommend it. My copy was signed by John Birmingham via my brother’s girlfriend who works in a bookshop JB frequents.

[Gen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book follows the hi-jinks of a group of sharehouse residents in their efforts to save themselves from eviction and their house from demolition by yuppy developers, all with zero money to their names thanks to a former housemate who did a runner with all their cash and committed enough fraud to get everyone's centrelink payments cut off. I probably enjoyed He Died With a Felafel in His Hand a bit more, even if this one does have more of a solid storyline. It was fun but some of the humour is a bit gross, perhaps because the book is from a guy's perspective, and it's definitely a bit dated. There's a lot of negative references to lefties who I guess were considered a bit more extreme in the past but whilst you still get some extremists nowadays being a lefty basically just makes you a decent human being.

[Tamsin Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book took me a lot longer to read than the first one because it was much harder to follow. I think John Birmingham is much more suited for short stories than a longer coherent narrative. Again no doubt an accurate picture of 90s sharehouse life. The same problems I had with the attitude of the first are still here; the only women who deserve respect are the ones JB is either too scared to fuck or he has a serious crush on, lesbians are either cute enough to fetishise or they're ugly and aggressive, every other woman is a bimbo etc. The Tasmanian babes never matter and every time a new character or setting is introduced all of a sudden there's a flashback and you've lost track of what's actually happening. I hope John Birmingham is a better journalist than novelist.

[Abbey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't lie, I didn't get to the end of this one. I remember reading He Died with a Falafel in his Hand and loving it, but that also may be because it was recommended to me by my Dad, who's opinions I generally respect. No shade on John Birmingham or my Dad, I think this book just speaks to a time and a place that I cannot access. The past (and Queensland) really is a foreign country!
Maybe there are just a few too many wacky, under-developed characters for me, or maybe I just don't 'get it'. Either way, Gen X-ers will most likely love this, and Felafel is a good place to have a go at absurdist '80s comedy for the young folks.

[Kirila · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book reminded me of those teenage/college movies, where everybody gets high and does stupid things. I am not a fan of those movies. And I wasn't a fan of the book. There were also a lot of Australian culture and life references, which I didn't get, as I am not from there. There were a few funny stories, but most of it felt chaotic and my thoughts were often wandering somewhere out of the story.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast paced about a week in the lives of young people sharing a rundown house in Brisbane, trying to stop themselves being evicted. Drugs, alcohol, sex and swearing feature a lot and definitely not one I would have chosen but Barney had read it and laughed a lot. Some quite amusing moments and some good writing.

[Flora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one even more than Falafel.
Reading Birmingham’s stuff feels less like reading a book and more like being told a (possibly embellished) boozy story by your mate who you wish you got to hang out with more often. It’s Australian in a relatable way rather than a gumtrees and native birds way. After reading one of his books, everything else seems pretentious and contrived.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flatmates have their wealth nicked by a dodgy roommate. Have to embark on adventures to get the money back. Much drinking ensues.

Rated M for frequent drug use, coarse language and a little violence. 3/5

[Lennox Nicholson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although more substantial with a more traditional story arc, it's just not as good as Felafel. Dunno, maybe I set the expectation bar too high. Similar to the feeling I had after watching Prometheus.

[G. Prove · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non male, ma il filone della storia principale si sfracella dopo pochissime pagine in lunghe parentesi, enormi flashback e altri episodi di degenerò vario.

Molto divertenti ma mi ha fatto perdere velocemente interesse per la storia in sé.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The names and some of the places have been changed to protect the innocent but otherwise this could be the story of my university years.

[SummerReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was crying with laughter while reading this book, I had high expectations after reading 'He died with a felafel in his hand' & it didn't disappoint.

[Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable follow up to He Died With A Felafel In His Hand, not quite as good but definitely not a waste of time.

[Kathryn Riddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laugh out loud read. Definitely recommended for anyone who lived the share house life!

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ipswich's greatest export. Ipswich being the Ballarat of QLD, or so I've been told.

[Kylie W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. So much so that I took it with me when I moved to the UK as my link to home. Birmingham's book He died with a falafel in his hand was good, but felt just like a ramshackle collection of student household anecdotes rather than any kind of cohesive story. In fact, it felt like the back-of-a-napkin notes that matured into this wonderful colourful book.

[Shadow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny even if repetitive from of some of the content from "He Died With a Felafel" in his hand, this is a truly brilliant book about the chaos and insanity of the early 90's Brisbane share house scene.
the story just builds until the momentum it creates drags you along at break neck speed.
Great read if you are after a good laugh.

[Nerida Hart · Rating 2 out of 5]

once again, provided the inward chuckles, however i dont think it is anywhere near as good as felafel. i just like the random little stories in that a bit better. still a good easy fun read none-the-less

[Nerida Hart · Rating 2 out of 5]

once again, provided the inward chuckles, however i dont think it is anywhere near as good as felafel. i just like the random little stories in that a bit better. still a good easy fun read none-the-less

[Alan Monteith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad story, but, I struggled to get through this, as it didn't keep me as engaged as Birminghams previous look into the joys of share house living. I much preferred, He Died with a Felafel in his Hand.

[Channing · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable sequel to "Felafel."

[Jody · Rating 5 out of 5]

The lost chpater from Felafel. Creates a notorious and unforgetable picture of life in Brisbane

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loopy, frivolous, and perfect for summer and full of people just like people my friends used to flat with as students. Disturbing.....

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading just for the wine reviews. Hilarious!

[Bev]

Purchased at Perth Writers' Festival after session with Birmingham, Stephen Scourfield and Nick Earles.

[Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This made me laugh my ass off at several points-

[Damien Ayers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun romp through life in an Australian sharehouse.