Description
Ben Trovato has been keeping the nation amused and outraged since
2001 when he published his first book, The Ben Trovato Files, which
was long-listed for the Alan Paton Award for non-fiction. Since then,
he has brought out nearly a dozen others. His acerbic wit has been
called “the literary equivalent of sex with a clown”.
Durban Poison: A collection of vitriol and wit throws our nation’s
sacred cows and ideals at an electric fence while turning the voltage
to maximum.
Like Lewis Carroll’s The Walrus and the Carpenter, Trovato writes
of many things in Durban Poison. However, while not being overly
concerned with shoes and ships and sealing wax and whether pigs
have wings, he derives an almost unseemly amount of pleasure from
satirising the foibles and fantasies of our political fabulists.
But he goes much further than simply poking the bears of bureaucracy
or lampooning the low-hanging fruitcakes of our world. Trovato
frequently turns his gaze on himself and doesn’t always like what he
finds.
From marital failures to travel disasters, from medical emergencies to
breaking the law, Trovato bravely and often stupidly goes where many
fear to tread.
With an itchy trigger-finger and sights set permanently on roam,
Trovato guns for the power-crazed despots, the bankers and the
wankers and all who try to run and ruin our lives. Sometimes, he
misses and kicks the underdog by mistake, but that’s life for you.
He also writes about gardening and cooking, but not in a good way.
