{"product_id":"chardonnay-socialist-and-other-radio-poems-paperback","title":"Chardonnay Socialist and other radio poems - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eGraeme Johnstone\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA Chardonnay Socialist is defined as 'a person who espouses Socialist ideals while enjoying a wealthy and luxurious lifestyle.' \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd not wanting to live like the down-trodden, marginalised people they support!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe armchair revolutionary is the perfect subject for author, journalist and broadcaster Graeme Johnstone in this sometimes cynical look at the world, via a collection of whimsical poems, originally broadcast on radio - 88.3 Southern FM - in Melbourne, Australia.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDonald Trump, Boris Johnson and Australia's Prime Minister, known as ScoMo, are all appraised, along with stockbrokers, federal police, high court judges, government ministers, COVAID-19, the Queen, Facebook, and a cyber attack on his fridge. And the Big Bang Theory - In Reverse!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGraeme adds that in many ways, he is a Chardonnay Socialist himself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot one of stratospheric riches, he hastens to add. Not like those entertainers, film stars, artists, musicians and other billionaires bemoaning the experiences of the less fortunate. But he readily admits he has, along with his wife and family, enjoyed a lovely life in a very comfortable home in a beautiful bayside suburb once described as a 'quiet middle-class backwater.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStill, he doesn't believe that should disqualify him from commenting on the world's inequalities. Oh no. He loves to offer an opinion!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd poetry, he believes, is a wonderful medium to get the point across.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA poem is a beautiful thing, he says. It stretches the creator's skills. It can jump from tragedy to humour within a couple of lines. It fills the listener with anticipation of things about to rhyme.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat's him, an old fashioned poet who writes in rhyming couplets, three-line stanzas, the classic techniques.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVery often the subject is what he considers an unjustness in life and the heaving mass of greedy capitalism that has caused it all - a somewhat delicious irony considering that the radio station is based in Melbourne's upmarket beachside suburb of Brighton, about twenty minutes' drive from his home.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn fact, the opening poem, \u003cem\u003eChardonnay Socialist, \u003c\/em\u003e explores that glorious conflict.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 118\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.28 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 30, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47842561982685,"sku":"9780648861942","price":23.33,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/9867\/8237\/files\/SpC8KUtZgi9780648861942.webp?v=1776985034","url":"https:\/\/handfulofbooks.com\/products\/chardonnay-socialist-and-other-radio-poems-paperback","provider":"Handful of Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}