Book Review: Playing Nice Was Getting Me Nowhere by Alex Cothren
I was immediately intrigued when I first heard of Pink Shorts Press in Adelaide. I heard them mentioned by Writers SA, so I investigated and took a gamble, picking up a copy of one of their early publications: Playing Nice Was Getting Me Nowhere written by local Adelaide author Alex Cothren. And boy! I’m so glad that I did.
Published in mid-2025, Cothren’s book of short, satirical stories is disturbing in the best kind of way. Set in a not-too-distant, dystopian future, the stories take many forms - from news headlines and interviews to chatrooms and royal commission transcripts. It was impossible to put down, with each piece successfully making the reader question every path we are potentially on, whether it’s personally, locally or globally.
The title story, “Playing Nice Was Getting Me Nowhere”, where neo-liberal policies have led to significant cutbacks to university staffing, despite incredibly high workloads, hits particularly close to home. Framed as an academic study, it investigates how the death of three tenured professors reveals the toxic environment present in tertiary education. In human terms, it reveals the excitement of the prospect of a permanent position amongst the highly casualised workforce in the English Literature department: “A freaking miracle, if you ask me. It’s like the seas have parted,” states one of the staff. As the deaths and workload pile up, however, very little changes. While I have my own suspicions about which university was depicted in the tale, it could easily have taken place on any Australian campus and offers the reader a chilling indication of where we could be headed in the world of tertiary education, English Literature department or otherwise.
Similarly, “Big Love” was also deeply moving despite its keen humour. The description of the landscape and the River Murray, so dramatically impacted by climate change, was difficult to ignore, particularly as someone who also lives on the river. Ted, a recent widower, lives on the banks of the once mighty Murray, surrounded by dirt and barren country, the only tree in the garden a holographic willow planted for his wife. His son, a tech genius, has set Ted up so he never has to leave the house, with AI delivery bots taking care of his every want and need. What happens when his desire to waste the days away conflicts with the need to come to terms with his grief? Cothren deftly weaves this tale of grief with the impact of climate change in a way that leaves the reader moved yet concerned, warned in a way that can’t be ignored.
Then there are the bees of “Let’s Talk Trojan Bee”, who, due to climate change, have shifted into new territory and changed the world as we know it. Taking the form of quotes and headlines from various news sources, the story is satire at its best. You can really imagine such headlines occurring, particularly those from more extreme elements of the media: “[t]hen came the secret release of a genetically modified bee, one lab-designed to radically boost the productivity of certain crops reliant on cheap foreign labour” could have been pulled directly from certain corners of the internet. Perhaps this was the most worrying of the stories; I can’t be exactly sure that I haven’t seen similar news stories floating around already. It feels as if it is only one step away.
Cothren is an incredibly talented writer, particularly in the short story and satirical forms. I could not really find much to fault, and as a reader, I enjoyed both the stories and the unique forms they took, all the while thinking about the paths we are on as a society. While this really should not be surprising (he does teach after all), it is fantastic to see such talent in a writer who is local to Adelaide. With the dominance of large international publishing houses, it is easy to forget that incredible talent can be found locally and published by local independent publishers. The only downside of finding such a talent and an amazing publisher is to my wallet.
You can buy the book in print and eBook here.
Lucy Nicholls
Acquistions Department
