Read Freedom Jonathan Franzen Fourth Estate Of course you’ve heard of it. I liked it. I appreciated it, really. It took over me a little while I was reading it. I felt really blue. The characters get inside of you, because they’re so fully-formed, and there's much space for them. The opening reminded me of Richard … Continue reading Read and received lately
Guest review: Elizabeth Bryer on Shane Jones’ Light Boxes
Hamish Hamilton July 2010 9780241144954 (Aus, US, UK) Reviewed by Elizabeth Bryer This is one of those books that comes with baggage. Cult status? Check. Author plucked from obscurity? Check. Endorsement by guy with cultural cache? Check. (The latter was Spike Jonze, by the way, who at one stage acquired film rights to the … Continue reading Guest review: Elizabeth Bryer on Shane Jones’ Light Boxes
Moon dust will cover you: the story of David Bowie and me
After James Bradley’s 'Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)'. David Bowie was really the first artist I found on my own as a young adult. Bowie came to me in a humorous, intertextual way, through watching Zoolander at the age of about 16 at Birch, Carroll & Coyle Cinemas, Coffs Harbour. I worked there so movies … Continue reading Moon dust will cover you: the story of David Bowie and me
Guest review: Annie Stevens on Melissa Febos’ Whip Smart
Whip Smart: A Memoir Picador, 2010 9780312561024 (Aus, US, UK) review by Annie Stevens Reading Melissa Febos’ memoir, Whip Smart, reminded me of when I first read Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho. So graphic and stomach-churning is some of the content that I had to have short 'rests' between chapters. What makes Whip Smart even more … Continue reading Guest review: Annie Stevens on Melissa Febos’ Whip Smart
The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2010
I attended the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards last night. I drank a lot of red wine, Casey Bennetto sang, awards were given, people got emotional, Peter Temple was hilarious, there was a dessert buffet, and Penguin CEO Gabrielle Coyne and I had a conversation about Michael Jackson. The Wheeler Centre, administering the awards for the first … Continue reading The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards 2010
Guest review: Sam Cooney on The Lifted Brow no. 7
The Lifted Brow no. 7 ed. Ronnie Scott 2010 (website) Reviewed by Sam Cooney The Lifted Brow no. 7. It’s good. (Could I leave it at that? Yes.) Ronnie Scott’s short editorial is about penises, sneakers and a forgotten Halloween special. I will extract two declarations from the editorial that sum up this Brow: 'I’ve never … Continue reading Guest review: Sam Cooney on The Lifted Brow no. 7
Some notes on the 'new world' of publishing
On the weekend I was a guest of the Write Around the Murray Festival in Albury. Besides giving a blogging/social media workshop, I was on a panel called The New World of Publishing alongside author Cate Kennedy, zinester Anna Poletti, self-published memoirist Melinda Marengo, and Barry Dorr and Jo Costello from JoJo Publishing. I thought I'd … Continue reading Some notes on the 'new world' of publishing
Investing in rainbows: Lisa Lang’s Utopian Man
Utopian Man Lisa Lang Allen & Unwin 9781742373348 2010 (Australia) Edward Cole was the forward-thinking, optimistic and eccentric founder of Cole’s Book Arcade – a utopian hive of 1880’s Melbourne. In the Arcade was stacked all manner of books (which were able to be perused on in-store lounges), pamphlets (including challenging, self-published explorations by Cole), and eventually, … Continue reading Investing in rainbows: Lisa Lang’s Utopian Man
Writers for Burma, Wheeler Centre Program Three & other upcoming events
There are many events on the Melbourne literary calendar and mostly I'll track what looks interesting on Twitter, but there are a few coming up I'd like to devote a bit more space to... On October 3 is Writers for Burma, at the Bella Union Bar, Trades Hall, Carlton, from 2:30pm. MC and organiser Paul Mitchell … Continue reading Writers for Burma, Wheeler Centre Program Three & other upcoming events
Guest review: Chris Flynn on Justin Cronin’s The Passage
The Passage Justin Cronin (Aus, US) Orion 9780752897851 Reviewed by Chris Flynn It’s funny how movies influence books so much these days. The fact that The Passage was optioned by Sir Ridley Scott for $1.75 million within a week of Cronin settling on a $3.75 million publishing deal for his vampire apocalypse trilogy is unsurprising … Continue reading Guest review: Chris Flynn on Justin Cronin’s The Passage
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