Stayin' Alive in Channel Country
A Stayin' Alive Odyssey
by James Alfred Podhorodecki
Alter-ego Sloan James and photographer Kial James Menadue set out to pursue their dreams of being a writer/photographer troupe in this beat-paced, spontaneous-prose-driven, dark-comedy, adventure novel.
A Stayin' Alive Odyssey
Originating as a year-long immersive project in the small town of Daylesford, Victoria in 2016: A Stayin' Alive Odyssey is the lifelong partnership of writer James Podhordecki and photographer Kial Menadue. Conceived as a series of Odysseys, the pair have carved out a unique collaborative style - Aussie Gonzo Existentialism.
James Alfred Podhorodecki (BA double major in professional & creative writing, and philosophy) (hons philosophy) (MA by research, philosophy) Dip.Hyp and NLP Pract. (Anglo European College of Therapeutic Hypnosis), is a published philosopher focusing on ontology, phenomenology, aesthetics, and authenticity in Sartrean existentialism. He is a writer of Aussie Gonzo Existentialism and has short stories and poetry published by Melbourne/Berlin indie publisher Soyos Books, as well as The Heavy Collective and Smith Journal. He's a musician, lyricist, and singer, and has released an E.P and L.P as front-man of the Melbourne outfit Dirty F. As well as releasing two E.Ps with Amateur Songs for Friends & Lovers, an album with Friends & Lovers, and an organ instrumental solo single entitled To Wake Up Unsore. Separately to his post graduate research, he is a practicing clinical hypnotherapist. He lives in Brunswick, Melbourne, and works in a liquor store.
Aussie Gonzo Existentialism
Stayin' Alive in Channel Country
The First #67 copies are Signed, Numbered, and Hand-Stamped by Kial Menadue & James Podhorodecki
Two friends set out to find a worthy photo-project and story in the absurdity of a camel race in Boulia, Channel Country, deep in the Australian desert of South West Queensland. With no set plans, only a loose awareness of the mystical Min Min lights reported to flash and fly across the sky at night, they boldly figure the narrative and aesthetic direction will simply find them. In a haze of alcoholism and ravenous gambling the two realise the camel racing itself holds no interest for them, instead the people, the vastness of the outback, and their own existential crises saturate every interaction. The two must face up to the truth; that nothing miraculous will happen to them and that meaning and purpose are not given, but arduously fought for. Their pursuits of writing a book and curating a photo-project become increasingly reflective of their inner anguish and alienation. Nothing belongs in Boulia, especially them.
Limited Copies Still Available at
Paradise Books
Woodend Bookshop
Stoneman’s Bookstore
Fairfield Books - SOLD OUT
Pictures and Pages - SOLD OUT
Brunswick Bound - SOLD OUT
Paperback Bookshop - SOLD OUT
Metropolis Bookshop
Readings Doncaster
Readings Carlton
“Very good book, definitely one of my favourite reads in recent memory. Entertaining, engaging, thought-provoking, and also genuinely funny, in an absurdist "did he really just say that" type of way. Simply loved it.”
“Like Kerouac's On The Road but better”
“I was lucky enough to read an early draft of this book. Podhorodecki’s prose is ruthless. He drives a knife into the bloated corpse of white-Australia’s sunburned ‘cultchya’. Not always pretty, but those interested in hedonistic gonzo should not skip!”
“Such a good book. It’ll be the read I foie gras to everyone for the next while.”
“I gotta say it. This looks like it could be one of the greatest Australian novels of the decade.”
“I read Stayin' Alive in Channel Country. I was wondering how you were going to sustain the energy I'd seen in your shorter pieces in a longer work, but it works even better because it has time to build and change and also because you're in pursuit of a great white whale: meaning. The near relentless negativity and cynicism of the narrator is also great. I wasn't sold on his/your worldview at first, but as it goes on it really convinced me that his/your approach (a stubborn refusal to meet anyone half way, which would just be half way into hell) is authentic and honest. Also I don't think I've read anyone writing interestingly about masculinity, definitely not in this way, in ages.”
“Great book… very funny, thought provoking and engaging. I highly recommend.”
“@cigi.butt.sloan gave me a proof of this a long time ago and I can safely say that this collaboration between @cigi.butt.sloan and @kialmenadue deserves your patronage and curiosity.”
“hey mate! we met at your book launch back in June, and i finished it last weekend. just wanted to say thanks for the chats and everything at the launch, and that i really loved the book! your words really flew off the page, and i blitzed through it. even though “nothing” happened, everything did. the narrative you constructed out of a bizarre sequence of less-than-‘successful’ events was really powerful. i loved your observational prose, i found it utterly compelling and frankly inspiring. you wrote with a frankness that made me trust you as a narrator, even when you were forthcoming in... Read More
“Mate this book is fucking flawless in the most flawed way. Well fucking done I'm sitting in a busy Cafe laughing my head off.”
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Brunswick, Victoria, Australia