He Died With A Felafel In His Hand' by John Birmingham

John Birmingham has lived in over eighty shared houses spanning across three states of Australia.  There's nothing he hasn't seen; and nothing can shock him.  He learned a lot from people he'd least expect would be big problems; and found that traveling with people he lived with was nothing but problems.  Filled with almost unbelievable stories from him - and from others who have also had funny stories about living in shared houses - John Birmingham has written a light, funny and laugh-out-loud account of what it's like to live in shared accommodation with just about anyone.

I love this book.  Seeing I've lived in a shared house, I can relate to about three of the stories out of the many John Birmingham told in this book... but only the three.  There have been my own weird and funny stories I've got of my own while living in shared accommodation that people wouldn't believe; yet they happened.  But, of course, that's a story for another time.  I did love reading this book as it was easy to pick up and and put down and wasn't demanding; as some books are.  So, if you want a good light, hilarious read, this is the book for you.

John Birmingham was born in Ipswich, Queensland, in 1964 and published is debut novel, 'He Died With A Felafel In His Hand' in 1994; which became a cult classic for today's youth, and eventually a best seller.  For his second book, he used a pen name, 'The Search for Savage Henry' by Harrison Biscuit.  This book is currently out of print; however you can buy it on the official site shop (which I've installed on the sidebar).  This was followed by a shared house comedy 'The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco' .  'How To Be A Man' was his fourth book, which John co-wrote with Dirk Flinhart, published in 1998.

'He died With A Felafel In His Hand' was turned into be a successful play and - eventually - a movie, starring Noah Taylor and Sophie Lee.  This book was published in Italy and England in 1997.  It was The Guardian's book of the week and described by Loaded as "one of the funniest books ever". 'Leviathan', a history of Sydney, was published by Random House in 1999.  In 2002, Duffy & Snellgrove published two pocket-sized guides by Birmingham 'The Felafel Guide to Sex' and 'The Felafel Guide to Getting Wasted'.