Aussie humour

Geoff McGeachin, probably a pretty funny guy himself, to judge by the titles of his novels (Fat, Fifty and F**cked, D.E.D. Dead and Sensitive New Age Spy), posted some illuminating comments here recently that included a link to an article about Australian humo(u)r. Not only is the article surprising and entertaining, it's on an official Australian government Web site.

The article is not about crime fiction, but its discussion of such themes as black humor and, especially, anti-authoritarianism, will be no surprise to readers of, say, Shane Maloney.

My favorite bit is this, from the comedian Mark Little:

"The country itself is the ultimate joke; the wave you body-surf into shore after a day at the beach could contain a shark or a rip-tide and, when you get back, your house could have been burnt to the ground in a bush fire. That's where the whole 'no worries' thing comes from."

© Peter Rozovsky 2008

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Australian crime fiction