{"product_id":"a-couple-of-things-before-the-end-stories","title":"A Couple of Things Before the End: Stories","description":"A bitingly satirical story collection that takes readers on an extraordinary tour of the old and new Australia - and to a very frightening future\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis brilliant collection mixes the storytelling originality of George Saunders and Lydia Davis with a sensibility all its own, taking the reader on an extraordinary tour of an old and a new Australia. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eA woman on a passenger ship in 1958 gets involved with a young, wild Barry Humphries. A man looks back to the 1970s and his time as a member of Australia's least competent scout troop. In 1988, a teenage boy recalls his sexual initiation, out on the tanbark. In 2015, two sisters text in Kmart about how to manage their irascible, isolated mum. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen, in the near future, a racist demagogue addresses the press the day after his electoral triumph. As the cities heat up and lose their water, a lady from one of the 'better suburbs' makes every effort to get her family into an exclusive gated community. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOutstandingly original, bitingly satirical and written in a remarkable range of voices, \u003ci\u003eA Couple of Things Before the End\u003c\/i\u003e is a powerful vision of where we are - and where we may be headed.","brand":"Sean O'Beirne","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43516579217469,"sku":null,"price":31.34,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0597\/7689\/2989\/files\/9781760641283.jpg?v=1787558546","url":"https:\/\/www.palmleaf.com.au\/products\/a-couple-of-things-before-the-end-stories","provider":"Palmleaf","version":"1.0","type":"link"}