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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'From the winner of the Russell Prize for Humour Writing. David Cohen's most wryly humorous and disturbing work of fiction yet.
'A public memorial’s name is changed to avoid any mention of the tragedy it has been set up to commemorate. Two attention-seeking activists campaign against exclusionary policies adopted by the gift shop at a suburban shopping mall. A customer service representative becomes obsessed with a colleague who has worked from home for so long, nobody in the company remembers her. A middle-aged father loses his marriage and falls in love again with a cherished but damaged childhood toy. An academic’s research into roadside memorials takes a peculiar turn.
'David Cohen’s sometimes bizarre yet pitch-perfect stories capture everyday horrors but are always shot through with a profound empathy and generosity.
'The Terrible Event delivers not just one terrible event, but many events of varying degrees of terrible-ness. Death, destruction, disappearance, decline, defeat – it has something for everyone.'
Notes
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Author's note: for Jacob
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Alienation and Hidden Histories : ‘Unsettling’ New Australian Stories Reveal a Distorted World
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 9 October 2023;
— Review of The Terrible Event : Stories 2023 selected work short story'Three new Australian short-story collections are very different in their style and approach to short-form fiction. However, these books – by veterans of the form David Cohen and Laura Jean McKay, and debut writer John Morrissey – are united by their tendency to cross genres and present the contemporary world in distorted (and occasionally disturbing) ways.' (Introduction)
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Just More Unravelling : AI Infiltrates ABR
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 454 2023; (p. 32)
— Review of The Terrible Event : Stories 2023 selected work short story'Hassled by deadlines and stricken by illness, I made a very modern deal with the devil. I asked ChatGPT to help me review David Cohen’s new short story collection, The Terrible Event. For the past few months, this text generating tool has made news by using AI technology to write everything from A+ high-school essays to faux-Nick Cave lyrics. Surely, then, it could provide some scaffolding for a thousand-word book review, a few handholds to help a tired reviewer scurry over this task and on to the next?' (Introduction)
-
Just More Unravelling : AI Infiltrates ABR
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , June no. 454 2023; (p. 32)
— Review of The Terrible Event : Stories 2023 selected work short story'Hassled by deadlines and stricken by illness, I made a very modern deal with the devil. I asked ChatGPT to help me review David Cohen’s new short story collection, The Terrible Event. For the past few months, this text generating tool has made news by using AI technology to write everything from A+ high-school essays to faux-Nick Cave lyrics. Surely, then, it could provide some scaffolding for a thousand-word book review, a few handholds to help a tired reviewer scurry over this task and on to the next?' (Introduction)
-
Alienation and Hidden Histories : ‘Unsettling’ New Australian Stories Reveal a Distorted World
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 9 October 2023;
— Review of The Terrible Event : Stories 2023 selected work short story'Three new Australian short-story collections are very different in their style and approach to short-form fiction. However, these books – by veterans of the form David Cohen and Laura Jean McKay, and debut writer John Morrissey – are united by their tendency to cross genres and present the contemporary world in distorted (and occasionally disturbing) ways.' (Introduction)
Awards
- 2024 shortlisted APA Book Design Awards — Best Designed Literary Fiction / Poetry Cover designed by Design by Committee.