If you know ABC-TV’s satirical comedy The Chaser, then you already know Dominic Knight who, by his own omission, wrote all the funny stuff for it.
Knight now presents an encyclopedia of all things Australian, from current personalities like Tony Abbott (“born 4 November 1957, where he still resides today”) and Nicole Kidman (“best known…as Tom Cruise’s second wife”) to Aussie staples like Australian Rules Football (“one of the world’s few spectator sports that awards a consolation point for a near-miss”). His reach includes everything from TV shows and sports to famous people and fictional celebrities like Mr Squiggle.
The book is laugh-out-loud funny and one to be flicked through over coffee instead of read cover-to-cover. It is, after all, an encyclopedia, no matter how irreverent it gets.
Knight’s witticisms shine throughout this clever observation of Australian society and history. The entries vary in length, ranging from Malcolm Turnbull’s three-line brushoff to Pauline Hanson’s eight-page analysis. Whatever you love or despair about our country, Knight seems to have found the ideal way to make you smile about it.
His humour is sarcastic, observational, pointed and silly. It almost makes you proud to be Australian.
Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet
Rating out of 10: 8
Released by: Allen & Unwin
Release Date: December 2017
RRP: $29.99
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