Alby Park

"His talk was simply the tinkling of cymbals and the beating of drums, mere empty sound signifying nothing, but I shall answer him because sound and fury sometimes, if unanswered, captivate the unthinking." -- Billy Hughes

A joy. Collected from Hansard (official transcripts of Parliament), the unknown Alby Park (a joke pseudonym, I believe?) has compiled witticisms and snarky remarks from Australian Prime Ministers, beginning with our first and ending with the last Prime Minister of the 20th century - John Howard (this book was written prior to this bewildering 21st century we have now embarked upon).

Some of the PMs don't make as much of a mark, and a few of the very shortlived ones don't get a chance at all, but those are the outliers. This is real fun, a reminder of the strangeness and brilliance of Australia's parliamentary system, and of the sometimes blustering, sometimes quirky, often flamboyant and bombastic men who held office between 1901 and the year 2000.… (meer)