Cirrus@Austlit

An autobiographical essay recalling the author's experiences as a schoolboy. From a Warsaw family, he went to high school in the south-eastern city of Przemyśl, where at first he boarded with a family connected with his father. When Andrzej was 12, his whole family moved to Przemyśl and from then on he lived with them. The essay describes the family he boarded with, and various school experiences, including being teased for his double-barrelled surname (Rawita-Gawroński), and his fear of his father's reaction to his failure in mathematics.

The essay comments on the hostile response of Polish Australian readers to the reprinting in a Polish satirical magazine Szpilki [Pins] of some of the author's satirical columns from the Polish Australian press. The author defends his record as a Polish patriot, referring to his imprisonment by the Polish Communist authorities in 1946 and subsequent escape from the country in 1950. He urges Polish Australians to be open to contact and cultural exchange with Poles in Poland, and to be mindful of how much easier it is to be critical of the Polish Communist regime from the safe distance of Australia than for those living in Poland.

The column reflects on author Helen Demidenko's publicly outraged response to Natalie Jane Prior's 'tell-all' memoir, The Demidenko Diary. Gawroński conveys the suspicion that Demidenko's outrage is feigned, and that each of the authors is in fact merely raising publicity for her own work.

The column is a partly satirical, partly serious response to the outcome of the 1995 presidential elections in Poland, in which former Communist Aleksander Kwaśniewski was elected President, defeating the incumbent, Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa. The author is both critical of, and yet not unsympathetic to, the indignant and despairing reaction of many Polish Australians to the election results; he declares himself a fence-sitter.

The column is a critical response to an admiring review of Paul Johnson's book Intellectuals by Polish journalist Waldemar Łysiak, published in the Polish Australian newspaper Tygodnik Polski. The author takes issue with Łysiak's representation of the left-liberal Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza [Electoral Gazette], which had published a critical review of Johnson's book.

The column discusses examples of malicious behaviour among some Polish immigrants in Australia, which the author sees as deriving from an inferiority complex.

The column expresses the author's bemusement at the existence of homosexuality and the concept of homosexual human rights. The author asserts that sexual life should be a private domain, not discussed in public.

The column expresses the author's horror at the recent death of a woman in Australia at the hands of an exorcist. It refers to a number of cults, including the Church of Scientology.

The column pokes fun at the oversensitivity of Polish Australian readers to satirical representations of them by journalists like the author.

The column comments on the retirement of the Polish community newspaper 'Tygodnik Polski' editor Jerzy Grot-Kwaśniewski, and appointment of the new editor Michał Filek. The author praises Grot-Kwaśniewski's work ethic and suggests that his editorship of 'Tygodnik Polski' will be hard to match. The column also discusses the rivalry between two Polish community radio stations, 3ZZZ and 3EA.

The column decries two instances of public rudeness by Polish Australian women.

The column is critical of Polish Australians' indignation at the number of votes won by the former Communist party in the 1991 elections in post-Communist Poland. The author points to widespread unemployment in Poland and decades of life under a totalitarian regime as factors that help to explain the election results.

The column is a response to a new Polish tabloid-style newspaper titled Nie (No) published by the former Communist government spokesman Jerzy Urban, who during his time as an official was widely reviled for his mendacity. Gawroński acknowledges that Urban's satirical columns are clever, but affirms that he remains a deeply off-putting figure.

The column expresses the author's dismay at the lack of unity among Poles in post-Communist, newly democratic Poland.