Playing Nice Was Getting Me Nowhere

A conspiracy theory about bees divides a nation.

A haunted pokie machine seeks revenge.

A ‘smart’ home becomes a little too clever.

Alex Cothren’s riotous collection of ethical fever dreams explores the ethos of the end times, testing the limits of technology, humanity and modern media. His predictions are incisive, hilarious and terribly plausible, tracing our contemporary obsessions to their logical – and often dire – conclusions.

Yet amid the horror are moments of hope and resistance, and possibly even a path to redemption – or at least instructions on finding a good place to hide when it all comes crashing down. 

From an internationally recognised master of the short form, this is a book for anyone struggling to tell the difference between the news and satire. It will stop you doomscrolling and keep you guessing.

‘Cothren’s satirical sketches use the springboard of parody to better understand the follies of vice … [and] contorts various aspects of contemporary Australia so that they are both recognisable and monstrous.’ – Jack Cameron Stanton, The Sydney Morning Herald

‘[This] debut collection of short stories is so assured, bleak and uncannily prescient that they could have been written tomorrow.’ – Steph Harmon, The Guardian

‘Sharp and well-constructed, with some great insights.’ – Sam Ryan, The Conversation

‘A satirical, slipstream tour-de-force … Each narrative is meticulously crafted, laced with biting humour and a creeping sense of unease.’ – Chris Reed, NZ Booklovers

‘All of the stories in this collection could come from the pages of either The Guardian or The Onion.’ – Debra Adelaide, Australian Book Review

‘Like looking in the mirror at a carnival funhouse. The reflections are odd and distorted, but the subject matter is real.’ – The Australian Women’s Weekly

‘Cothren balances wit with empathy, and curiosity with caution, uniquely presented in a predominantly Australian context.’ – Tamil Ellazam, Readings

‘Cothren’s satirical-slipstream scalpels slice into contemporary anxieties – like Black Mirror, but better.’ – Sean Williams

'Each story is simultaneously unhinged and hits close to home ... if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. Cothren’s satirical take on modern-day horrors feels refreshing, particularly when our overwrought social media habits and the 24-hour news cycle have left us strung out with empathy fatigue.' Books+Publishing

‘Reading Playing Nice Was Getting Me Nowhere is like wandering into a hall of mirrors. It’s weird, it’s funny and it’s heartbreaking, often all at the same time.’ – James Bradley

‘As enjoyable and strange as George Saunders, but with a sharper edge, these stories are the lively medicine your brain needs now.’ – Jane Rawson

‘This scintillating bunch of stories, both formally and thematically daring, are a savage indictment of where things stand. But, for all the mayhem, there are also moments of tremendous heart.’ – Wayne Marshall

‘Pure tragicomedy, with the dial turned up so far it’s broken off.’ – Andrew Roff

Alex Cothren is a lecturer in creative writing at Flinders University. He has won the Carmel Bird, William van Dyke, Griffith Review Emerging Voices and Peter Carey awards for short fiction. He has had writing published in Meanjin, Island, Overland, Griffith Review and Australian Book Review. He was born in the Pacific Northwest, but now lives on beautiful Kaurna Yerta with his wife Maria and son Julio.

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