Chalk and Cheese: A Fabrication, by Ross Fitzgerald & Ian McFadyen (Hybrid, August 2025, pp 224, $24.99)

Eamonn O’Hanlon After suffering a stroke, veteran conservative commercial radio broadcaster Bill Bradley is admitted to an aged care facility, only to find that one of the residents is none other than his arch political and media rival. This is the left-wing radical socialist broadcaster Ben Curran, whose grandfather was a leading light of the Communist Party of Australia. 

When other residents start asking for their help about unfair government regulations and elder abuse, these two …

Chalk and Cheese: A FabricationRoss Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyenHybrid, $24.99Cameron Woodhead Spectrum Saturday, September 6, 2025, p11   Comic writing partners Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen will be familiar to some from their Grafton Everest books – a lively and long-running Australian series of political satires featuring a Rabelaisian academic (with a touch of Sir Les Patterson) getting himself into absurd scrapes.

In Chalk and Cheese, they break fresh comedic ground. Two journalists with opposing political views are admitted to the same aged care home. Conservative broadcaster Bill Bradley has made a career from …

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Chalk and Cheese: A FabricationRoss Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyenHybrid, $24.99

Comic writing partners Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen will be familiar to some from their Grafton Everest books – a lively and long-running Australian series of political satires featuring a Rabelaisian academic (with a touch of Sir Les Patterson) getting himself into absurd scrapes.

In Chalk and Cheese, they break fresh comedic ground. Two journalists with opposing political views are admitted to the same aged care home. Conservative broadcaster …

Elders unite in Chalk and CheesePHIL BROWN 30 AUGUST 2025

Can political adversaries ever find common ground to fight for a cause? They can and they do in Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen’s latest satirical novel.

Ian McFadyen and Ross Fitzgerald teamed up to write the novel Chalk and Cheese.

Does it take an odd couple to write about an odd couple? If that gives you Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison flashbacks (the diametrically opposed characters of film and TV fame), you get the general idea.

But the odd couple in Ross Fitzgerald and …

Can political adversaries ever find common ground to fight for a cause? They can and they do in Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen’s latest satirical novel.

Ian McFadyen and Ross Fitzgerald teamed up to write the novel Chalk and Cheese.IDoes it take an odd couple to write about an odd couple? If that gives you Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison flashbacks (the diametrically opposed characters of film and TV fame), you get the general idea.

But the odd couple in Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen’s latest collaboration, Chalk and Cheese, is Ben …

“Chalk and Cheese: A Fabrication” is a novel by Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen, receivingpositive reviews for its engaging plot and social commentary.

The story, featuring two rival radio personalities in a nursing home, is praised for its humor, warmth, and exploration of themes like aging, elder care, and generational differences. Reviewers highlight the novel’s cinematic quality, memorable characters, and its ability to blend comedy with serious social issues.Here’s a more detailed look at the reviews:Plot and Characters:The novel’s central conflict revolves around Bill and Ben, former radio rivals forced to …

Former foes become two angry old peas in a pod(cast)

Authors Ian McFadyen, left, and Ross Fitzgerald.Book review / Chalk and Cheese: A Fabrication, by Ross Fitzgerald & Ian McFadyen (Hybrid, $24.99).

Reviewed by MICHAEL BRIODY.

Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen’s powerful new novel, Chalk and Cheese: A Fabrication features two octogenarian former rival radio stars, Bill and Ben, who detest each other – until they find themselves in the same nursing home.

The plot centres around these two men in the twilight of their lives who refuse, as Dylan Thomas wrote, to “go …

Michael Briody‘Two Peas in a Podcast.’Chalk and Cheese: A Fabricationby Ross Fitzgerald & Ian McFadyenHybrid, 2 025, 262 pages,$24.99

Ross Fitzgerald and Ian McFadyen’s powerful new novel, Chalk and Cheese: A Fabrication (Hybrid, Melbourne, $24.99), features two octogenarian former rival radio stars, Bill and Ben, who detest each other—until they find themselves in the same nursing home.The plot centres around these two men in the twilight of their lives who refuse, as Dylan Thomas wrote, to “go gentle into that good night”. The novel sets the scene for the flood of …

Misfit: The Unravelling of Samantha XAmanda GoffEcho 2025, 272 pages, $34.99ROSS FITZGERALDAmanda Goff’s Misfit is an emotionally raw, utterly honest, and at times very funny book. Although this is her third memoir, it is the first written and published under her own name. It opens with Goff physically and metaphorically laid bare, describing her visceral pain: “If I peel my whole body, will I discover who I am?”

While devouring Misfit, I kept thinking of another remarkable woman, Marilyn Monroe, who starred in my favourite movie, The Misfits. Released in 1961 …

Jack Iverson was, my father often told me, the finest bowler to whom he ever kept

By Ross Fitzgerald

Oct 19, 2024

Playing against England, in the home Ashes series of 1950–51, Iverson led the Australian bowling averages with 21 wickets at 15.24 runs per wicket. Bamboozling the Poms, in one Test he got 6 for 27. A little known fact is that Jack Iverson’s highest score in all five Tests was 1 not out.

A famous old club: A History of the Brighton Cricket Club by David King

ISBN 9780646977829

RRP: $85.00 (hb)

Reviewed by Ross …

My father Bill (“Long Tom”) Fitzgerald and one of Australia’s greatest spin bowlers – the enigmatic Jack Iverson.Jack Iverson was, my father often told me, the finest bowler to whom he ever kept.

Playing against England, in the home Ashes series of 1950–51, Iverson led the Australian bowling averages with 21 wickets at 15.24 runs per wicket. Bamboozling the Poms, in one Test he got 6 for 27. A little known fact is that Jack Iverson’s. highest score in all five Tests was 1 not out.

A Famous Old Club: A History …