Steven Amsterdam Steven Amsterdam i(A93098 works by)
Born: Established: New York (City), New York (State),
c
United States of America (USA),
c
Americas,
;
Gender: Male
Arrived in Australia: ca. 2004
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Works By

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4 8 y separately published work icon The Easy Way Out Steven Amsterdam , Sydney : Hachette Australia , 2016 9663161 2016 single work novel

'Evan's job is to help people die.

'Evan is a nurse - a suicide assistant. His job is legal - just. He's the one at the hospital who hands out the last drink to those who ask for it.

'Evan's friends don't know what he does during the day. His mother, Viv, doesn't know what he's up to at night. And his supervisor suspects there may be trouble ahead.

'As he helps one patient after another die, Evan pushes against the limits of the law - and his own morality. And with Viv increasingly unwell, his love life complicated, to say the least, Evan begins to wonder who might be there for him, when the time comes.' (Publication summary)

1 Getting Lost Steven Amsterdam , 2015 single work prose
— Appears in: Better Than Fiction 2 : True Adventures from 30 Great Fiction Writers 2015;
1 Giordana Steven Amsterdam , 2011-2012 extract novel (What the Family Needed)
— Appears in: Inscribe , Summer no. 5 2011-2012; (p. 6)
1 This Helplessness Steven Amsterdam , 2011-2012 single work short story
— Appears in: The Monthly , December - January no. 74 2011-2012; (p. 62-63)
1 The Scribes' Selection Peter Carey , Favel Parrett , Geraldine Brooks , Alex Miller , Steven Amsterdam , John Tranter , Helen Garner , Brenda Walker , Sophie Cunningham , Fiona McGregor , Richard Flanagan , Elliot Perlman , Nikki Gemmell , Thomas Keneally , Peggy Frew , Anson Cameron , Robert Adamson , Charlotte Wood , Robert Manne , Gig Ryan , Nam Le , Shane Maloney , Luke Davies , A. P. Riemer , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 10 December 2011; (p. 28-31) The Sydney Morning Herald , 10-11 December 2011; (p. 30-33)
Australian writers and reviewers each nominate their best books of 2011. Some of the books listed are by Australian writers.
3 11 y separately published work icon What the Family Needed Steven Amsterdam , Collingwood : Sleepers Publishing , 2011 Z1817105 2011 single work novel

'“Okay, tell me which you want: To be able to fly or to be invisible.”

Alek, 7

'And so begins the tale of a family finding itself, told by each of its members as they discover powers they never thought possible, from the author of the acclaimed Things We Didn’t See Coming.' (Publication summary)

1 1 Things I Just Didn't See Coming Steven Amsterdam , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 10 October 2011; (p. 15)
'When his award-winning novel was placed on the VCE reading list. Steve Amsterdam wasn'd prepared for the questions, the analysis and the the relentless search ofor meaning.' The Age 10 October 2011 p 16
1 Water is Wide Steven Amsterdam , 2010 single work short story
— Appears in: The Sleepers Almanac : No. 6 2010; (p. 63-84)
1 Rich Pickings Christos Tsiolkas , A. P. Riemer , Robert Adamson , Jon Bauer , Geraldine Brooks , Chris Wallace-Crabbe , Chris Womersley , Helen Garner , Alex Miller , Kate Holden , Brenda Walker , Steven Amsterdam , Nam Le , Peter Temple , M. J. Hyland , Andrea Goldsmith , Michael Sexton , Michael McGirr , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 11-12 December 2010; (p. 30-31)
Australian writers, together with Lloyd Jones and Colm Toibin, each nominate their favourite books of 2010. Some of the titles listed are by Australian authors.
1 All I Want ... Is a Book Brenda Walker , Nam Le , Christos Tsiolkas , Helen Garner , Jon Bauer , Alex Miller , Chris Wallace-Crabbe , Chris Womersley , Kate Holden , Steven Amsterdam , Peter Temple , M. J. Hyland , Andrea Goldsmith , Shane Maloney , Robert Adamson , Michael McGirr , Les Murray , Geraldine Brooks , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 11 December 2010; (p. 24-26)
Australian writers, together with Lloyd Jones and Colm Toibin, each nominate their favourite books of 2010. Some of the titles listed are by Australian authors.
1 I See You (from a work-in-progress) Steven Amsterdam , 2010 extract single work novel
— Appears in: Heat , no. 23 (New Series) 2010; (p. 71-92)
1 How To Make a Bed Steven Amsterdam , 2010 single work short story
— Appears in: The Age , 3 July 2010; (p. 12-13)
1 Strange Encounter of a Human Kind at a Checkpoint in Dystopia Steven Amsterdam , 2010 extract novel (Things We Didn't See Coming)
— Appears in: The Age , 13 January 2010; (p. 16)
1 Dry Land Steven Amsterdam , 2009 extract novel (Things We Didn't See Coming)
— Appears in: The Best Australian Stories 2009 2009; (p. 253-268) Things We Didn't See Coming 2009; The Best Australian Stories : A Ten Year Collection 2011; (p. 184-198)
The rain won’t stop falling. Suburbs are being flooded and washed away. A government representative travels to sinking areas to encourage people to leave before it’s too late.
1 Readings Can Be Cheerful Alex Miller , Emily Maguire , Luke Davies , Emily Ballou , Steven Amsterdam , Kate Grenville , Brenda Niall , Peter Carey , M. J. Hyland , John Banville , Helen Garner , Geraldine Brooks , Andrea Goldsmith , Chris Wallace-Crabbe , Toni Jordan , Matthew Reilly , Charlotte Wood , Anson Cameron , Michael McGirr , Peter Temple , Robert Adamson , Nikki Gemmell , Steven Carroll , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 12 December 2009; (p. 26-28)
A range of writers offer their opinions on the books they most enjoyed reading in 2009. Some of the books cited are by Australian writers.
1 Relax, It May Never Happen. But Then Again, It Probably Will Steven Amsterdam , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 29 September 2009; (p. 20)
3 23 y separately published work icon Things We Didn't See Coming Steven Amsterdam , Collingwood : Sleepers Publishing , 2009 Z1564576 2009 selected work short story (taught in 3 units)

Nine connected stories, ' Things We Didn't See Coming follows a man over three decades as he tries to survive - and to retain his humanity - in a world savaged by successive cataclysmic events.

Opening on the eve of the millennium, when the world as we know it is still recognisable, we meet the then nine-year-old narrator fleeing the city with his parents, just ahead of a Y2K breakdown of the grid which signals the world's transformation and decline. In the wake of this develop strange, sometimes horrific, sometimes unexpectedly funny circumstances as he goes about the no longer simple act of survival: trying to protect squatters against floods in a place where the rains never stop; harassed (and possibly infected) by a man wracked with plague; functioning as a salaried embezzler of 'the state'; escorting the gravely ill on adventure trips.

Yet despite the violence and brutality of these days, we learn that even as the world is spinning out of control essential human impulses still hold sway - that we never entirely escape our parents, envy the success of those around us and, chiefly, that we crave love' (Harvill Secker website).

1 The Profit Motive Steven Amsterdam , 2009 single work short story
— Appears in: Things We Didn't See Coming 2009;
1 Predisposed Steven Amsterdam , 2009 single work short story
— Appears in: Things We Didn't See Coming 2009;
1 The Forest for the Trees Steven Amsterdam , 2009 single work short story
— Appears in: Things We Didn't See Coming 2009;
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