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.

‘Playing Nice Was Getting Me Nowhere is hilarious, horrific and always heartfelt. 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

‘In a world going mad, what can you do? Read Alex Cothren! These stories are incisive, intelligent, funny and heartbreaking. Cothren’s aim is devastatingly accurate, his details perfectly tuned. 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 

‘They say that nice guys finish last. But the underdog cast of Alex Cothren’s debut collection battle misfortune, the government, prejudice, their own vices and each other to a hilarious, well-earned draw. This is 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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