The Chook Book
The Chronicles of Reginald. The Greatest Cock to Ever Live.
By J.C Kimberley
The Chook Book is an irreverent adult fable about a flock of farmyard chooks battling for power, pecking order and survival. Hilarious, absurd, and surprisingly human, it explores friendship, rivalry and belonging in a world ruled by hierarchy and nonsense.
"Darkly funny, viciously sharp, and uncomfortably familiar, this is the modern-day fable for our time: a story about power, rebellion, and the dangerous moment when a whole system breaks down."
On a dusty Australian outback farm, a ruthless hierarchy dominates a flock of chooks, each one painfully aware of its spot in the Pecking Order. A belief they all accept as fact.
At the heart of their kingdom stands Reginald, the greatest cock to ever live. Resplendent with a crown-comb, a knack for humiliation, and a bloodstained stump he calls his throne. Every morning is a ritual of dominance. Every day is a careful dance around ego, pecking beaks, and the ever-present knowledge that the farm has its own quiet, final rules.
Our flock survives on scraps, gossip, and gallows humour, exchanged movie quotes and philosophy while trying not to become the next cautionary tale. Here, death isn’t abstract. It’s part of the landscape.
Something in the Chook Shed changes.
Private grievance finds unexpected allies. Our chooks discover that tyranny doesn’t only crush bodies; it bends minds, warps loyalties, and turns ordinary chooks into accomplices. In the shadows, a counter-current gathers: misfits, thinkers, and poor bastards with nothing left to lose, daring to imagine a life beyond fear.
Who is Jason Kimberley?
Jason Kimberley is a self-taught, instinct-driven author whose work explores power, personality, and the quiet absurdities of life. Guided by a simple philosophy — resist the obvious, trust the detail, and let characters lead — his writing blends dry humour with emotional restraint, inviting readers to slow down, look again, and recognise themselves in the unexpected.
He is the author of Australia Exposed (2003), praised for its observational voice and its ability to capture the character of a country without sentimentality, and Antarctica: A Different Adventure (2005), a firsthand account of a sixteen-day expedition at 80 degrees south that combines endurance, reflection, and sharp-eyed storytelling. Together, these works established Kimberley as a writer interested not in spectacle, but in people, their resilience, contradictions, and capacity for humour under pressure.
Drawing on decades of observation, often in remote, uncomfortable, and overlooked places, Kimberley writes with a laconic clarity that favours people over grand statements. Whether documenting explorers at the edge of the world or the small dramas of everyday life, his stories find meaning in the quiet moments where humour and humanity intersect.
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