Reviewed by Rod McLary The epigraph to The Secret Life is from a poem by Paul Éluard, a French surrealist poet of the 20th century: ‘There is another world, but it is in this one’. This brief quote captures the essence of Andrew O’Hagan’s three essays in The Secret Life in which he explores ‘the
Reviewed by Gretchen Winters Krista Tippett’s latest book is a wonderful testimony to her views on religion and personal growth. Tippett is a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster and New York Times best- selling author. In 2014, she received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama at the White House for “thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Ask an Australian to identify the most famous Australian classical music conductor since 1788 and I’ll be astounded if anyone can do so. Drop the hint that he came from a farm in Tasmania and that he died offering support for AIDS sufferers like himself…prepare to agree that Australians in general
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Was there ever a time when Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton were not on our screens? It doesn’t really matter because this pair of bickering intellectuals have been entertainers for years unnumbered, and solved the secret of success without really knowing they were seeking it. Wakefield Press has produced a booklet
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Stephen King and his son Owen dissolve their talents in a mish-mash of uninteresting characters and long-winded descriptions that address the issue of a world without women. What if all around the world women become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze and turned feral if awakened? When the Kings wrote this clanger,
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Sandy is a fifteen year old boy who has grown to adolescence in one of the driest parts of Australia, the mallee country. Eighteen year old Red is Sandy’s brother. Both boys have been part of a nuclear family until the day the boys’ mother was killed in a vehicular accident.
Reviewed by Ian Lipke A review by Neville Taylor in http://www.rusivic.org.au/hero-or-deserter (Aug 2017) sets the scene of General Gordon Bennett’s world in the turmoil of 1942 Malaysia. In circumstances that no divisional commander would wish upon himself, Bennett was faced with having one of his three infantry brigades being split and moved to West Timor
Reviewed by Rod McLary The Eureka Rebellion – more commonly known as the Eureka Stockade – was a key event in Australian history and is considered to be highly significant in the development of Australian democracy and identity. The rebellion in 1854 came about partly because of the licences which gold diggers were obliged to
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Steven S. Gubser and Frans Pretorious are professors of physics at Princeton University and the authors of The Little Book of String Theory (Princeton). In the initial chapters of their ‘black holes’ volume they introduce their readers to a crash course in special and general relativity at a level that is sufficient for most readers
Reviewed by E.B. Heath Long ago, BI (Before Internet), meditation in the Western World was the domain of the bare-footed, kaftan brigade. The counter culture, amid much eye rolling, proclaimed the potency of a meditative life. Now, armed with hard evidence, medical science can verify that they indeed were right. Dr. Patrizia Collard’s The Mindfulness
Reviewed by Ian Lipke It is understandable that Princeton University Press would want to re-publish Our Cosmic Habitat by Martin Rees, a book that first hit the shelves in 2001. This edition, labelled the Princeton Science Library, boasts a new preface by the author. This quickly arouses interest and sets the reviewer up in anticipation
Reviewed by Rod McLary The Foreword to Bad to Worse recommends that this book is read five times – ‘forward quickly, forward slowly, once aloud, once backwards and once upside down’. Following this recommendation is supposed to assist in understanding the book and in allowing the reader to enter the author’s ‘dissenting universe where every
Reviewed by Antonella Townsend What could be better than a bearded, handsome man in a kilt? Well, try a bearded, bare chested, handsome man in a kilt … up side down! After the wild success of his U-Tube video, Finlay Wilson has released the book version of the same that is his fun take on
Reviewed by Clare Brook Virginia, North America, July 1911, two fifteen year old girls are coming of age. They are best friends, Mary Kirk and Wallis Warfield and their exciting young adult lives are just beginning. Paris, 31st August 1997, in a tunnel, a young woman’s life is ending. She is Princess Diana. Gill Paul
Reviewed by Angela Marie In Nineteen Letters by Jodi Perry the reader is quickly immersed into the perfect lives of a perfect twenty-something couple, Jemma and Braxton Spencer. Jemma is an interior designer rapidly accruing an impressive clientele, whilst Braxton is an up-and-coming architect on the verge of landing a major client. They are beautiful, their home