David Cohen (29) (1967–)
Author of Disappearing off the Face of the Earth
For other authors named David Cohen, see the disambiguation page.
Works by David Cohen
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1967
- Short biography
- For details, see the author page for David Phillip Cohen.
- Nationality
- Australia
- Associated Place (for map)
- Australia
Members
Reviews
The Terrible Event first caught my eye because of the cover. Those ‘SIGN HERE’ stick it notes are ubiquitous, and I liked the spin on using them as a book. This is a collection of short stories about terrible events – some shocking, some sad and some the consequences of age and life. They are wrapped in small events that the main characters tend to get a bit obsessed with, which really made the story for me. It’s quirky and not your usual short story collection.
The Terrible Event show more contains eight stories, some quite short and others longer, with their own mini chapters. I found I resonated with the longer stories (I love my details) because they delved deeper into the main character’s motivations and foibles. The first story, The Terrible Event: The Memorial, I found quite confronting. The terrible event that led to the memorial is never explained, but as the story continues, there are hints that it wasn’t pretty at all. The ambiguity makes the ending so much more powerful but it will definitely not be for all readers. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue (would all the stories be in this vein?) but I’m glad I did. The next story, Mr Cheerio, is somewhat lighter and more relevant to today – the cost of living, the economy and the eternal human need to one up each other. I loved this story. Bugs is sadder and a little creepy as the narrator finds himself in a strange spiral that just may be related to a childhood toy. The Holes was perhaps my favourite for how relatable it was – work from home, office life and the waiting, waiting, waiting for something to happen. The final story, The Enigma of Keith: Another Memorial certainly won’t have me looking at roadside memorials in the same way (although I hope I lift my foot a little).
Overall, the stories are diverse – sometimes dark, sometimes light and witty. The main characters tend to be loners with quirks that put them on the edge of society. Cohen conveys the sense of loneliness well, in addition to how much it bothers his characters (or not), which adds to the sympathy the readers feels for them. The stories also cleverly poke fun at office life, academia, bureaucracy and the rages of people in the suburbs. I enjoyed dipping in and out of these stories, finishing the book in 24 hours. It’s a clever collection verging on the absurd, which just made it more attractive to me.
Thank you to Transit Lounge for the copy of this book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com show less
The Terrible Event show more contains eight stories, some quite short and others longer, with their own mini chapters. I found I resonated with the longer stories (I love my details) because they delved deeper into the main character’s motivations and foibles. The first story, The Terrible Event: The Memorial, I found quite confronting. The terrible event that led to the memorial is never explained, but as the story continues, there are hints that it wasn’t pretty at all. The ambiguity makes the ending so much more powerful but it will definitely not be for all readers. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue (would all the stories be in this vein?) but I’m glad I did. The next story, Mr Cheerio, is somewhat lighter and more relevant to today – the cost of living, the economy and the eternal human need to one up each other. I loved this story. Bugs is sadder and a little creepy as the narrator finds himself in a strange spiral that just may be related to a childhood toy. The Holes was perhaps my favourite for how relatable it was – work from home, office life and the waiting, waiting, waiting for something to happen. The final story, The Enigma of Keith: Another Memorial certainly won’t have me looking at roadside memorials in the same way (although I hope I lift my foot a little).
Overall, the stories are diverse – sometimes dark, sometimes light and witty. The main characters tend to be loners with quirks that put them on the edge of society. Cohen conveys the sense of loneliness well, in addition to how much it bothers his characters (or not), which adds to the sympathy the readers feels for them. The stories also cleverly poke fun at office life, academia, bureaucracy and the rages of people in the suburbs. I enjoyed dipping in and out of these stories, finishing the book in 24 hours. It’s a clever collection verging on the absurd, which just made it more attractive to me.
Thank you to Transit Lounge for the copy of this book. My review is honest.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com show less
The Terrible Event is a collection of eight absurdist stories from Brisbane author David Cohen.
I'm no Pollyanna, but 'Mattress' uses language a bit too earthy for my taste so I didn't read it. But the rest of the stories are terrific and the titular story 'The Terrible Event: A Memorial' is brilliant. As the blurb says, it follows the trajectory of a public memorial that has its name changed to avoid any mention of the tragedy it has been set up to commemorate...
The narrator is in the show more process of setting up a well-intentioned conference:
The story goes on to deal with another complaint. The memorial is being planned to be a collection of experiences designed to unsettle and disorientate the visitor and thereby force them to reflect more deeply upon the Terrible Event. Although there was warning signage, there were complaints that it was confronting. This led to another round of inconclusive surveys which nonetheless led to the closure of the offending experiences and plans for a menu of non-confronting but meaningful experiences, from which visitors could choose experiences they could experience individually, at their own pace and desired level of engagement. Attractive young people with iPads would greet visitors at the door to help them choose...
And then there were complaints about the choice of Professor N as the keynote speaker because his well-known tendency to call a spade a spade, a trait once so admired by his peers, was now regarded as the behaviour of a man desperately out of touch.
Some years ago, I read Andrea Goldsmith's The Memory Trap (2013) which interrogated the way memorialising can be fraught with difficulty, reminding me of the controversies surrounding memorials for the Holocaust, for 9/11, the Bali Bombings and other atrocities which should not be forgotten. Cohen's story is a satirical update on the topic that takes account of the power of social media, identity politics and the trauma industry.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2023/06/14/the-terrible-event-2023-by-david-cohen/ show less
I'm no Pollyanna, but 'Mattress' uses language a bit too earthy for my taste so I didn't read it. But the rest of the stories are terrific and the titular story 'The Terrible Event: A Memorial' is brilliant. As the blurb says, it follows the trajectory of a public memorial that has its name changed to avoid any mention of the tragedy it has been set up to commemorate...
The narrator is in the show more process of setting up a well-intentioned conference:
The Terrible Event Memorial had been established by the Terrible Event Institute ('the Institute'), which had been set up for the purposes of conducting research into the Terrible Event and other events of a similarly terrible nature. The Memorial was the 'public face' of the Institute, attracting large numbers of visitors annually.
The theme of the conference was 'The Terrible Event: Remembering the Past, Safeguarding the Future'. The celebrated Professor N had agreed to deliver the keynote speech. Professor N, a renowned expert on the Terrible Event, was a highly original thinker and himself a survivor of the Terrible Event — a man seemingly without a trace of bitterness despite having personally endured that ordeal.
Preparations were going smoothly until a member of the public, having seen some early conference-related promotional material that had been circulating — material that referred to The Memorial by its original name, which was, it goes without saying, still in use at the time — lodged a complaint. This person, who had hitherto been unaware of The Memorial's existence, felt that the original name, which articulated in no uncertain terms the precise nature and location of the event that The Memorial was there to memorialise, was, in their words, 'confronting and emotionally charged.' The Director, who'd never really liked the original name, saw this as the perfect moment to 'change things up'. (p.3)
The story goes on to deal with another complaint. The memorial is being planned to be a collection of experiences designed to unsettle and disorientate the visitor and thereby force them to reflect more deeply upon the Terrible Event. Although there was warning signage, there were complaints that it was confronting. This led to another round of inconclusive surveys which nonetheless led to the closure of the offending experiences and plans for a menu of non-confronting but meaningful experiences, from which visitors could choose experiences they could experience individually, at their own pace and desired level of engagement. Attractive young people with iPads would greet visitors at the door to help them choose...
And then there were complaints about the choice of Professor N as the keynote speaker because his well-known tendency to call a spade a spade, a trait once so admired by his peers, was now regarded as the behaviour of a man desperately out of touch.
Some years ago, I read Andrea Goldsmith's The Memory Trap (2013) which interrogated the way memorialising can be fraught with difficulty, reminding me of the controversies surrounding memorials for the Holocaust, for 9/11, the Bali Bombings and other atrocities which should not be forgotten. Cohen's story is a satirical update on the topic that takes account of the power of social media, identity politics and the trauma industry.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2023/06/14/the-terrible-event-2023-by-david-cohen/ show less
Sporting one of the best cover designs of the year so far, The Terrible Event by David Cohen is a collection of short stories promising 'death, destruction, disappearance, decline and defeat' and sounded right up my alley.
A brief word on the cover first. Designed by Josh Durham from Design by Committee, this cover design is immediately eye catching and I keep seeing it popping up everywhere. It really taps into my love of stationery and will no doubt be one of my favourite cover designs for show more 2023. The mention of parallels between this collection and the work of David Sedaris further stoked my anticipation for this Australian collection.
Containing eight stories in total, I enjoyed the sense of nostalgia that started to build.
"The toy was as addictive as it had been in bygone days. Pulling the string triggered memories of backyard cricket, Choc Wedges and Saturday morning cartoons - the very cartoons that had introduced him to Bugs Bunny in the first place. Those were the days." Page 44-45
The Australian setting and mention of Choc Wedges, Holden Commodores and rippled soled desert boots was ripped right from my own childhood and the sweary dialogue in the story entitled Bugs, was great. Here's our main character in Bugs reminiscing about inheriting his dad's old Olivetti typewriter.
"And when you pressed a key, you could see the type bar strike the paper, leaving behind a black letter or number. Nothing made interesting noises anymore. Nothing had any weight or resistance. Mark recalled the hole punches of his youth, the staplers. Where were they now?" Page 65
Yes, the hole punches!! I think back to how much our desk accessories have changed in my time, with liquid paper in bottles to hole punches, fax machines and staplers. I still have a mini red stapler purchased in 2000 that's so small it takes No. 25 staples and it's stapled thousands of bank statements, travel itineraries and meeting agendas over the years. If you love stationery as much as I do, see my review of Adventures in Stationery: A Journey Through Your Pencil Case by James Ward.
Back to the collection, hole punches feature in the aptly named short story Holes, and it was here that I started to notice a few common threads or easter eggs that connect through the collection. I won't include them in my review in case they're spoilers - I'm looking at you Nathan! - but not being a regular reader of short stories, I thought this was cool.
While there's limited time to connect with a character in a short story, character descriptions like this provided a neat shortcut to personality, and I could readily relate:
"Zoran's conversations were limited to two main subjects: cycling and craft beer. I didn't have a problem with that, but he seemed to assume that I was as interested in them as he was. If I tried to steer the conversation in another direction, he'd steer it back, before too long, to one or the other. He showed no particular curiosity about me: I think I was really just a receiver for whatever he wanted to talk about. He might ask me what I'd done on the weekend... but only as an entry point for him to tell me all about the cycling and beer drinking he'd done." Page 99
I have a person JUST LIKE THIS in my life too!
My favourite story in the collection was The Enigma of Keith: Another Memorial, which contained an interesting story about the erection of a fictitious roadside memorial, installed to determine whether the presence of a memorial (white cross, flowers) has any impact on driver speed. Do drivers slow down when they notice a memorial on the side of the road? You'll have to read The Terrible Event to find out!
* Copy courtesy of Transit Lounge * show less
A brief word on the cover first. Designed by Josh Durham from Design by Committee, this cover design is immediately eye catching and I keep seeing it popping up everywhere. It really taps into my love of stationery and will no doubt be one of my favourite cover designs for show more 2023. The mention of parallels between this collection and the work of David Sedaris further stoked my anticipation for this Australian collection.
Containing eight stories in total, I enjoyed the sense of nostalgia that started to build.
"The toy was as addictive as it had been in bygone days. Pulling the string triggered memories of backyard cricket, Choc Wedges and Saturday morning cartoons - the very cartoons that had introduced him to Bugs Bunny in the first place. Those were the days." Page 44-45
The Australian setting and mention of Choc Wedges, Holden Commodores and rippled soled desert boots was ripped right from my own childhood and the sweary dialogue in the story entitled Bugs, was great. Here's our main character in Bugs reminiscing about inheriting his dad's old Olivetti typewriter.
"And when you pressed a key, you could see the type bar strike the paper, leaving behind a black letter or number. Nothing made interesting noises anymore. Nothing had any weight or resistance. Mark recalled the hole punches of his youth, the staplers. Where were they now?" Page 65
Yes, the hole punches!! I think back to how much our desk accessories have changed in my time, with liquid paper in bottles to hole punches, fax machines and staplers. I still have a mini red stapler purchased in 2000 that's so small it takes No. 25 staples and it's stapled thousands of bank statements, travel itineraries and meeting agendas over the years. If you love stationery as much as I do, see my review of Adventures in Stationery: A Journey Through Your Pencil Case by James Ward.
Back to the collection, hole punches feature in the aptly named short story Holes, and it was here that I started to notice a few common threads or easter eggs that connect through the collection. I won't include them in my review in case they're spoilers - I'm looking at you Nathan! - but not being a regular reader of short stories, I thought this was cool.
While there's limited time to connect with a character in a short story, character descriptions like this provided a neat shortcut to personality, and I could readily relate:
"Zoran's conversations were limited to two main subjects: cycling and craft beer. I didn't have a problem with that, but he seemed to assume that I was as interested in them as he was. If I tried to steer the conversation in another direction, he'd steer it back, before too long, to one or the other. He showed no particular curiosity about me: I think I was really just a receiver for whatever he wanted to talk about. He might ask me what I'd done on the weekend... but only as an entry point for him to tell me all about the cycling and beer drinking he'd done." Page 99
I have a person JUST LIKE THIS in my life too!
My favourite story in the collection was The Enigma of Keith: Another Memorial, which contained an interesting story about the erection of a fictitious roadside memorial, installed to determine whether the presence of a memorial (white cross, flowers) has any impact on driver speed. Do drivers slow down when they notice a memorial on the side of the road? You'll have to read The Terrible Event to find out!
* Copy courtesy of Transit Lounge * show less
I have decided to write explicitly about this. It is a complete spoiler, so scroll down to part two of the review if you want to avoid knowing about the book before you read it.
I had a friend in Geneva who went from close to cutting me off when she read my review of The Sea, The Sea, The Sea (repeated to taste) by Iris Murdoch. She was a Murdoch fan. She was deeply hurt by a review which made fun of her idol. Although at the time I thought she was an idiot, the fact is that books we love show more hold a place in our heart which overtake rationality. I love this book, and it pains me to think that there are people out there who don't get it.
When I wrote my review of this a few days ago, I was reluctant to give anything away that would cause one to know too much of the book prior to reading it. However, I can see that this has led to not enough information in some respects. So, this is the spoiler and the upgrade, since I gave this four stars at the time, whilst wishing I could give it five.
More than one nimwit has read this book thinking that they 'got' the twist early on and that therefore this book has failed. But this book is not meant to have a twist. The point of the book is that it is about a person with schizophrenia. He doesn't know that - but can he know it? Can the part of him that we are barracking for, the part telling the story, understand what is happening and therefore do something about it?
Much as the book may be comic, it has this disarmingly sad fundament. We are hoping the best for a serial killer, who is so ordinary he could be anybody. The author has produced a dysfuntional serial killer we can all love and relate to in no different a way from relating to the family in The Castle.
It is possible that only Australians will get that. We are particularly tolerant and have a sense of humour which permits this book to be what it is. But I encourage non-Australians to read it and attempt to enter the spirit of the exercise. If, however, you are wanting a book that has a clever twist that you don't get until the very end - or at all - then this book is not for you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I think it’s safe to say, having read this over the course of a day, that it’s the perfect easy read. An equal mix of suspense, pathos, great characters and humour including laugh out loud precise comic timing. On top of which it’s splendidly Australian.
Over the last months, having followed the experiences of a friend with a book in the Australian best seller lists for the unusually long period of a couple of months, it has become evident to me in a more real way than previously that it’s a cut-throat world out there for the author. Once your book drops off the lists and that happens almost immediately post publication, it becomes near impossible to get a copy. Perhaps this is a reason to be thankful for the large online booksellers and databases.
What chance does this give a book such as this of big success? Approximately zero. But what a shame. I don’t want to talk about the story, it’s to be left to the reader to find that out. I can, however, give this four stars, which from me is high praise indeed.
My best guess is that sometime in the future, and I’m afraid that will be about thirty years, that this will become one of those little revived classics that clever people on goodreads write about knowingly.
Well, come on goodreaders. Beat the rush. Be different. Read it now! show less
I had a friend in Geneva who went from close to cutting me off when she read my review of The Sea, The Sea, The Sea (repeated to taste) by Iris Murdoch. She was a Murdoch fan. She was deeply hurt by a review which made fun of her idol. Although at the time I thought she was an idiot, the fact is that books we love show more hold a place in our heart which overtake rationality. I love this book, and it pains me to think that there are people out there who don't get it.
When I wrote my review of this a few days ago, I was reluctant to give anything away that would cause one to know too much of the book prior to reading it. However, I can see that this has led to not enough information in some respects. So, this is the spoiler and the upgrade, since I gave this four stars at the time, whilst wishing I could give it five.
More than one nimwit has read this book thinking that they 'got' the twist early on and that therefore this book has failed. But this book is not meant to have a twist. The point of the book is that it is about a person with schizophrenia. He doesn't know that - but can he know it? Can the part of him that we are barracking for, the part telling the story, understand what is happening and therefore do something about it?
Much as the book may be comic, it has this disarmingly sad fundament. We are hoping the best for a serial killer, who is so ordinary he could be anybody. The author has produced a dysfuntional serial killer we can all love and relate to in no different a way from relating to the family in The Castle.
It is possible that only Australians will get that. We are particularly tolerant and have a sense of humour which permits this book to be what it is. But I encourage non-Australians to read it and attempt to enter the spirit of the exercise. If, however, you are wanting a book that has a clever twist that you don't get until the very end - or at all - then this book is not for you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I think it’s safe to say, having read this over the course of a day, that it’s the perfect easy read. An equal mix of suspense, pathos, great characters and humour including laugh out loud precise comic timing. On top of which it’s splendidly Australian.
Over the last months, having followed the experiences of a friend with a book in the Australian best seller lists for the unusually long period of a couple of months, it has become evident to me in a more real way than previously that it’s a cut-throat world out there for the author. Once your book drops off the lists and that happens almost immediately post publication, it becomes near impossible to get a copy. Perhaps this is a reason to be thankful for the large online booksellers and databases.
What chance does this give a book such as this of big success? Approximately zero. But what a shame. I don’t want to talk about the story, it’s to be left to the reader to find that out. I can, however, give this four stars, which from me is high praise indeed.
My best guess is that sometime in the future, and I’m afraid that will be about thirty years, that this will become one of those little revived classics that clever people on goodreads write about knowingly.
Well, come on goodreaders. Beat the rush. Be different. Read it now! show less
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 3
- Members
- 19
- Popularity
- #609,293
- Rating
- 3.4
- Reviews
- 6
- ISBNs
- 349
- Languages
- 12