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y separately published work icon The Speechwriter single work   novel  
Issue Details: First known date: 2021... 2021 The Speechwriter
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In his fiction debut, erstwhile speechwriter and Saturday Paper journalist Martin McKenzie-Murray takes us on a frantic, funny, and surreal journey through the corridors of power.

'Toby, former speechwriter to the PM, has reached a new low- locked behind bars in a high-security prison, with sentient PlayStations storming the city outside, and the worst of Australia's criminals forcing him to ghost-write letters to their loved ones or have his spine repurposed as a coat-rack. How did he get here? From the vantage point of his prison cell, Toby pens his memoir, trying to piece together how he fell so far, all the while fielding the uninvited literary opinions of his murderous cellmate, Gary.

'What Toby unspools is a tale of twisted bureaucracy, public servants gone rogue, and the ever-present pervasive stench of rotting prawns (don't ask). Realising that his political career is far from the noble endeavour he'd once imagined it would be, Toby makes a bid for freedom ... before the terrible realisation dawns- it's impossible to get fired from the public service. Refusing to give up (or have to pay for his relocation fee), Toby's attempts to get fired grow more and more extreme, and he finds himself being propelled higher and higher through the ranks of bureaucracy.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Dedication : 'For Stel & Tilly'
  • Epigraph : 'The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.' - Ecclesiastes 7:4
  • Epigraph : 'And other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?' - Unknown

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Carlton North, Parkville - Carlton area, Melbourne - North, Melbourne, Victoria,: Scribe , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 3179020359536107080.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 240p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 02 February 2021
      ISBN: 9781925713831
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

National Character Scott Limbrick , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin , September / Spring vol. 80 no. 3 2021; (p. 211-215)
— Review of The Speechwriter Martin McKenzie-Murray , 2021 single work novel 'Early in The Speechwriter, I encounter a scenario where Donald Trump instructs Don Jr to ‘hijack Air Force Two and suicidally steer the plane into Disneyland ... Congress is still split on impeachment.’ As I read it for the first time shortly after Joe Biden’s inauguration—by that point just a month after the storming of the US Capitol by right-wing men dressed in fur and horned helmets, with debate over impeachment raging—I realise that the fictional Don Jr situation doesn’t feel shocking. In a time defined by utter shamelessness, satire has become even more difficult: it’s impossible to reveal the powerful as hypocritical when they proudly promote themselves as grotesque. Worse, their audiences either don’t seem to care or actively love it.' 

 (Introduction)
Elevator Pitches : Three Experimental Novels Alex Cothren , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 434 2021; (p. 55-56)
— Review of Night Blue Angela O'Keeffe , 2021 single work novel ; Where the Line Breaks Michael Burrows , 2021 single work novel ; The Speechwriter Martin McKenzie-Murray , 2021 single work novel

'Writers seeking publication are often advised to have an ‘elevator pitch’ ready. These succinct book-hooks are designed to jag a trapped publisher in the wink between a lift door closing and reopening. Has this insane tactic ever actually worked? No idea. But it’s fun to imagine the CEO of Big Sales Books, on their way up to another corner-office day of tallying cricket memoir profits, blindsided by three of the looniest elevator pitches imaginable. A novel narrated by Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles! A faux political memoir about a prime minister and his shark vendetta! An academic satire cum historical mystery mashup told largely through the – wait, wait, wait! – footnotes of a PhD thesis! That CEO will probably take the stairs next time, but kudos to the independent publishers who saw the potential in these experimental works and their début authors. Whatever the path of weird Australian writing, long may it find its way to these pages.' (Introduction)
The Speechwriter by Martin McKenzie-Murray Review – Larrikin Maximalism and Undergraduate Snicker Beejay Silcox , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 29 January 2021;
— Review of The Speechwriter Martin McKenzie-Murray , 2021 single work novel

'The first novel by this former speechwriter aims to provoke but its easy parodies of Australian politics are unlikely to elicit more than a shrug.;
The Speechwriter by Martin McKenzie-Murray Review – Larrikin Maximalism and Undergraduate Snicker Beejay Silcox , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 29 January 2021;
— Review of The Speechwriter Martin McKenzie-Murray , 2021 single work novel

'The first novel by this former speechwriter aims to provoke but its easy parodies of Australian politics are unlikely to elicit more than a shrug.;
Elevator Pitches : Three Experimental Novels Alex Cothren , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 434 2021; (p. 55-56)
— Review of Night Blue Angela O'Keeffe , 2021 single work novel ; Where the Line Breaks Michael Burrows , 2021 single work novel ; The Speechwriter Martin McKenzie-Murray , 2021 single work novel

'Writers seeking publication are often advised to have an ‘elevator pitch’ ready. These succinct book-hooks are designed to jag a trapped publisher in the wink between a lift door closing and reopening. Has this insane tactic ever actually worked? No idea. But it’s fun to imagine the CEO of Big Sales Books, on their way up to another corner-office day of tallying cricket memoir profits, blindsided by three of the looniest elevator pitches imaginable. A novel narrated by Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles! A faux political memoir about a prime minister and his shark vendetta! An academic satire cum historical mystery mashup told largely through the – wait, wait, wait! – footnotes of a PhD thesis! That CEO will probably take the stairs next time, but kudos to the independent publishers who saw the potential in these experimental works and their début authors. Whatever the path of weird Australian writing, long may it find its way to these pages.' (Introduction)
National Character Scott Limbrick , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Meanjin , September / Spring vol. 80 no. 3 2021; (p. 211-215)
— Review of The Speechwriter Martin McKenzie-Murray , 2021 single work novel 'Early in The Speechwriter, I encounter a scenario where Donald Trump instructs Don Jr to ‘hijack Air Force Two and suicidally steer the plane into Disneyland ... Congress is still split on impeachment.’ As I read it for the first time shortly after Joe Biden’s inauguration—by that point just a month after the storming of the US Capitol by right-wing men dressed in fur and horned helmets, with debate over impeachment raging—I realise that the fictional Don Jr situation doesn’t feel shocking. In a time defined by utter shamelessness, satire has become even more difficult: it’s impossible to reveal the powerful as hypocritical when they proudly promote themselves as grotesque. Worse, their audiences either don’t seem to care or actively love it.' 

 (Introduction)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (3)

Awards

VIEW ALL AWARDS (2)
Last amended 19 Aug 2021 15:05:31
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