Reviewed by Rod McLary It would take a certain amount of courage and perhaps chutzpah to write not just one memoir but four as Phil Brown has done. But while the first quality is certainly present in his latest very honest and revealing volume, the second is far less likely as what may mistakenly be
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Helen Trinca’s powerful novel binds the reader’s attention to the page with arms of steel. While novels of this sort often hold attention readily enough, Trinca’s text never lets go. She holds until readers realize that s/he has no wish to see the book abandoned. Rather she has become fully involved
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Stephen J. Campbell’s reading of Leonardo da Vinci requires the widest possible circulation, not because his argument is utterly convincing but because he comes so close to doing just that. He leaves the reader gasping at the audacity of his proposals but also wondering if he might in fact be right,
Reviewed by E B Heath Something that hurts one of us, hurts all of us. Jahan Kalantar Talk Your Way Out of Trouble – a memoir of Jahan Kalantar’s professional life as a barrister and lawyer. In the Prologue readers will learn about the inner workings of ‘the eye’ – it’s a lawyer-y thing. Apart
Reviewed by Ian Lipke Annette Kellerman had little hope of living a normal, suburban life, at least that’s the way Grantlee Kieza tells her story in his latest biography. The granddaughter of a grandmother and mother who could be classed only as odd, and a grandfather who, in his eccentricity, chose to live his life
Reviewed by Patricia Simms-Reeve The title, Unsettled, poses questions that Kate Granville’s personal history of the last 200 years seeks to offer with powerful insights into our own relationship with the land which was ‘settled’ by the English in 1788. The crushing defeat of the referendum in 2023 compels those who were disappointed and deeply
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Journalists are prolific story tellers. Their profession is demanding and stress is no stranger. But that can go to another level when they become the story. Particularly when that story involves incarceration in a foreign jail. Working for an Arab news service, Peter Greste suddenly went from relative obscurity in Australia
Reviewed by Antonella Townsend Three Wild Dogs – and the Truth – a memoir about the life and times of the dearly departed Reuben and Archer; concluding chapters are dedicated to Frosty who is still living the dream. The dream is having a loving, no-matter-what-happens, loyal carer, some might say owner, but I’m not sure
Reviewed by Richard Tutin Stories tell us much about a nation’s identity. Having been passed down in oral or written forms, they help shape both where a nation has come from and where it is going. The challenge is often to have these stories in a permanent form, so they are not forgotten. There have
Reviewed by Rod McLary Dorothy Porter is one of Australia’s most esteemed poets who received, among many other awards, the Christopher Brennan Award for a lifetime achievement in poetry. Dorothy – or Dod as she was affectionately called by her family – was ‘fuelled by a lusty human humour and a generously sharp-tongued spirit’ [Michael
Reviewed by E B Heath Dr. Richard Scolyer is a world-renowned melanoma pathologist and one of the world’s top melanoma researchers. He is co-director with Georgina Long at the Melanoma Institute Australia. In 2021 he was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia for his outstanding service to medicine in the field of melanoma and
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders The endangered Gouldian finch is one of Australia’s prettiest birds and was named after Elizabeth Gould, by her husband John in 1841. He was already famed as “the Bird Man” (of England), yet in typical fashion, his claim on the finch conveniently overlooked the facts that it had been discovered already
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Nicole Arthur of the Washington Post once wrote that there are two types of people. “Those who have never heard of the Wiggles and those who know all the words to “Fruit Salad”. There’s a word for those in the latter group: parents” [p151]. For those of us who have reared
Reviewed by Rod McLary On 13 August 1987, seventeen-year-old Jasper Haigh died following a car accident in Geelong. Jasper – or Jaz – was the younger brother of Gideon Haigh the well-known author and journalist. As would be expected, the sudden death of his young brother had a significant impact on the life of Gideon
Reviewed by Norrie Sanders Next time you find yourself doing some mundane work, imagine what it would be like to be paid to step onto the stage of the Sydney Opera House every night, to perform in front of a cheering audience. A recent French TV series portrayed an opera company as a hotbed of