| He Died with a Felafel in His Hand | |
| Author: | John Birmingham |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Comedy, auto-Biographical novel |
| Publisher: | Duffy & Snellgrove |
| Pub Date: | 1994 |
| Media Type: | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Isbn: | 1-875989-21-8 |
| Oclc: | 221745424 |
| Followed By: | The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco |
He Died with a Felafel in His Hand is a purportedly non-fiction autobiographical novel by Australian author John Birmingham about his experiences as a share housing tenant,[1] first published in 1994 by The Yellow Press . The story consists of a collection of colourful anecdotes about living in share houses in Brisbane and other cities in Australia with variously dubious housemates. The title refers to a deceased heroin addict found in one such house. The book was subsequently adapted into the longest running stage play in Australian history[2] and, in 2001, was made into a film by Richard Lowenstein, starring Noah Taylor, Emily Hamilton and Sophie Lee. A sequel, The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco, was published in 1998.
In 2004, to celebrate the book's tenth anniversary, Birmingham approached comic artist Ryan Vella to produce a graphic novel of the book. The pair met in April of that year at Artspace Mackay, for the opening of the Headspace exhibition. The comic was published in September 2004 by Duffy & Snellgrove . Paul Dawson calls this a grunge lit book.
While the book is not written in a linear fashion, the order of houses (and housemates) John lives in is as follows:
1st Place – The Boulevade
Tom moves out and is replaced by:
2nd Place
3rd Place – King Street
Taylor is having personal problems. He ambushes his fellow housemates with a toy gun after hiding for an hour. He tells them if it had been a real gun they would all be dead. John sees that as a good reason to move out.
4th Place – Duke Street (Brisbane)
John moves out for reasons not made clear.
5th Place – Melbourne
John moves out when her loud sex sessions become too much to bear.
6th Place – Fitzroy
As a result of the fallout from this new relationship, Greg moves out and John follows suit.
7th Place – Carlton
After trying to freeze out the Daves from the house by cutting off the gas and electricity, John gives in and moves to a loft in Fitzroy.
8th Place – Fitzroy
After Wendell's threats to kill him, John moves out and sleeps around at friends' places.
9th Place – Auchenflower in Brisbane
10th Place – Brisbane goth house (not clear how this move came about)
All the goths run away after the bailiff comes round to collect unpaid rent. John keeps the house on and in moves:
Nina moves out to live with her friend Tanya
11th Place
The book then segues to
12th Place – band house in Darlinghurst, Sydney
13th Place – Kippax street
Downstairs Ivan and Uptight Martin move out within three days of each other and are replaced by
Birmingham's narrative is interspersed with humorous testimonials from other veterans of the Australian share house lifestyle, and descriptions of common share house paraphernalia, such as the bucket bong, the ubiquitous "brown couch", and milk crates serving as makeshift furniture.
In Review called it part of "Brisbane’s Holy Trinity of Gen X Lit... a knockabout comedy, but with serious bits that people always forget are in there, and was required reading for anyone who lived in a share house or who just wanted to read a funny book."[3]