Double Dissolution

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Earlier this year I was walking around in a daze, and also London, trying to figure out what to with my life. My marriage appeared to be over, I had nowhere to live, and the quaint British tradition of charging AU$8 for what I will charitably called “coffee-tinted imitation liquid” was fast draining my savings.

In a fit of confusion, I decided to properly cover the 2016 election. No, not that one. The boring one. The Australian one. I flew home, bought a car, and took off on the road to see what a federal election looked like on the ground instead of through the filter of 24 hour news and social media. I wrote about my adventures for Vice, and had initially planned to collect all of the articles into a book. As I went on, it became clear that the book was going to be something else entirely. Not just disjointed tales of electorates and MPs, but its own distinct tale of being on the road and finding yourself at a crossroads. A metaphorical crossroads. The first road is real, the crossroad is a metaphor. Look, it doesn’t matter. You’re getting hung up on this point.

I spent two months driving around Australia, meeting politicians and voters, navigating big cities and hidden towns, and having some of the strangest encounters of my life. If you want a snapshot of Australian politics in 2016, it’s that. If you want an emotive journey of painful introspection, it’s that too. If you want a road trip journal, it’s absolutely that. If you want a bunch of jokes, then I’ve got you covered.

Double Dissolution: Heartbreak and Chaos on the Campaign Trail is out in bookstores and available online now, so why not buy eight or nine copies and see for yourself.

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