OBSERVER: Muriel’s book
The golden voice of Muriel Cooper brought so much inspiration and comfort to a generation of radio listeners in her two decades on 3AW and ABC Melbourne.
But Muriel’s post-radio career has been equally fascinating. Today she is a popular novelist and is a clinical psychologist.
Combining those two skills has led to her latest book, a guide to self help with a very Australian title – Up Shit Creek in a Barbed Wire Canoe and How to Cope with It.
Muriel herself has always had a robust sense of humour and she explains that if laughter is the best medicine, you can combine it with some common-sense mental health advice, and that’s the basis of her new book
Having studied behavioural science and becoming a psychologist, Muriel now practises on the Mornington Peninsula – when she isn’t writing crime novels.
She also has a helpful website, The Talking Room, where she gives serious advice.
Fellow author Liz Hicklin, says that Muriel’s new book is an extremely serious book masquerading as a funny one.
It explains why swearing can be good for you and how to cope when the inevitable hits the fan.
When you are up that famous creek in a barbed wire canoe, you aren’t looking for long, wordy books that eat up your precious brain space.
You need something to the point and preferably funny. Muriel manages to do this in roughly a hundred pages packed with humour and practical advice.
Muriel’s book is due out on May 1 and is published by norstriliapress.com
Julie Houghton