My Extraordinary Life and Death

Description

What exactly is The Tight Trouser Club? Where do you buy children at bargain prices? How do you survive a father who buries you in the garden whenever you misbehave? And whom do you contact when your wife starts to shrink? None of these questions are answered in My Extraordinary Life and Death, though what do you expect if the author is dead? A rollercoaster of madness and surreal comedy awaits the reader brave enough to open the pages of this truly remarkable book. Based on a false story.

Doug MacLeod is a Melbourne writer for adults and children who has worked with most of Australia's top comedians. He started as head writer on The Comedy Company, ended up producing Full Frontal, then ran away to write episodes of SeaChange and script edit Kath and Kim. In 2008, The Australian Writers Guild awarded him the Fred Parsons Award Recognising Special Contribution to Australian Comedy. His best-known children's book is probably Sister Madge's Book of Nuns, which started as a practical joke on a publisher. It is most unprofessional to write a book merely as a practical joke, so he has decided to do it once again with My Extraordinary Life and Death.

You know those old drawings from earlier centuries? Quite often stylised and slightly off somehow. Just waiting for some clever person to come along and twist their meaning to new and hilarious ends. That person is Doug Macleod, who here collects various images to illustrate a hilarious, entirely fictional account of his life, and death. Contained within the pages are a father who wears beehives into town, the inventor of the whoopee cushion, a cheerful and light-hearted proposal, and many children, including a nervous child whose pants attract lightning. I don't know how many times I laughed out loud reading this book, suffice to say, many. And it isn't a 'read once, laugh once' sort of book. Each time I open it to re-read I find myself bursting into a fresh round of chuckles. Perfect as a gift for christmas, birthdays or for someone who needs a good laugh. It's much better than a gift of tight pants! -Ruth Chapman