See my review of Eat the Document by Dana Spiotta, Picador, 2008, 9780330448291 (Aus, US) What was the initial inspiration for Eat the Document? I met Alger Hiss' widow, Isabel Johnson. And I wondered about her marriage. If you were a spy, would you tell your wife? What would it be like to have … Continue reading Dana Spiotta – Interview
Author: Angela Meyer (LiteraryMinded)
The Best Unpublished Books – Part Three (Children's/Young Adult)
Body Swap – Jerome Parisse Didn’t you just love those stories when you were a kid where magical things could happen in ordinary circumstances? Things like turning invisible, or wishing on objects? Well Jerome’s Body Swap has this mysterious magical quality that gets the imagination firing. 13 year-old William has moved to Fulton with his … Continue reading The Best Unpublished Books – Part Three (Children's/Young Adult)
The Best Unpublished Books – Part Two
The Ice Age – Kirsten Reed I think, if I’d read this book between the ages of 14-17, it would be my favourite book. Not that it only has young adult appeal. I still found that the laid-back protagonist, who doesn’t seem particularly fazed most of the time to be on the road with a … Continue reading The Best Unpublished Books – Part Two
How They Met by David Levithan
See my review in the June issue of The Short Review...
The Best Unpublished Books – Part One
From the Deep End Table – Christopher Currie I tracked down Chris after reading an amazing story of his in Voiceworks a couple of years ago, called 1969. It was about Woodstock – the summer of love. I found his writing to be incredibly insightful, subtle, and beautiful. I was instantly a fan. Chris has … Continue reading The Best Unpublished Books – Part One
Eat the Document by Dana Spiotta
Picador, 2008, 9780330448291 (Aus, US) Mary sits in a dingy motel room in 1972 trying to figure out who she’s going to be. It is difficult to choose a name. She needs to be faceless, to blend. She needs to appear bland, harmless. No that she had meant to do any harm. In 1998 Jason … Continue reading Eat the Document by Dana Spiotta
Stick This in Your Memory Hole by Tristan Clark
Aduki, November 07, 9780980335125 (Aus, US) There are many ways of endearing people to your worldview. A carefully reasoned argument set out in engaging prose, or an impassioned cry for justice related to your own experiences, perhaps. Another way would be slamming them violently and repeatedly with your no-holds-barred attack on all things current, to … Continue reading Stick This in Your Memory Hole by Tristan Clark
Literary-Minded Film Stills
The literary-minded one is influenced by cinema and music just as often as by the written word. An image or a note can do something a word cannot, and vice versa. In the spirit of this, I am not going to write a long-winded post on my favourite films and how they inspire me and … Continue reading Literary-Minded Film Stills
The Miernik Dossier by Charles McCarry
Scribe, February - Trade Paperback, 9781921215605 (Aus, US) Scribe have wisely decided to reinvigorate cold war spy novel The Miernik Dossier , which centres around paranoia, suspicion and misconceptions. A mixed band of secret agents (American, British, African and suspected Soviet) travel from Switzerland, through Eastern Europe to the Sudan. American spy Paul Christopher attempts … Continue reading The Miernik Dossier by Charles McCarry
Misconceptions by Sophie Townsend
First published in the May 2008 issue of BOOKSELLER + PUBLISHER magazine (c) 2008 Thorpe-Bowker (a division of RR Bowker LLC) http://www.bookseller+publisher.com.au/ Bantam, 9781741667844, May 2008 (paperback) Sophie Townsend’s debut novel is both tender and readable. Best friends Ruth and Mim have been each others’ rock through countless experiences, including the death of Ruth’s mother … Continue reading Misconceptions by Sophie Townsend
LiteraryMinded 