Author: Peter Ralph
Publisher: Melbourne Books, 2007
ISBN: 9781877096952
RRP $24.50,
This is a story that needs to be told again and again. The avarice and self-serving attitudes of the principle character are depicted graphically and chillingly. People like Douglas Aspine should be locked up as quickly as possible and ‘re-educated’, before they can do more harm. (more…)
Published by Melbourne Books
ISBN: 9781877096660
RRP: $28.59
The reason I’m keen to include this review is that one of my stories is included.
This is the first of what Melbourne Books plans to be an annual publication.
The publisher looked at over a hundred stories and bush poems which had won awards around Australia in the past year and then chose twenty-six of these to showcase some of the best writing being produced in this country. (more…)
The Writing Class
Jincy Willett
ISBN: 9781921372117
$32.95
326 pp
Scribe 2008
I found this novel difficult to get into, because I made up my mind half-way through the first page that I didn’t like the style. It would have been a big mistake, had I given up then – the first few pages are someone’s diary entry and the narrative begins on page five. (more…)
Eyebabies
David George
ISBN: 9781921325045
$26.95
256 pp
Ilura Press 2008
This is an interesting book with a complex structure. It is a love story and a psychological thriller. It is something of a mystery from the enigmatic beginning to the loose end. (more…)
History Unrepeated
Convincing Ground: Learn to fall in love with your country
Bruce Pascoe
Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra, 2007
ISBN: 978-085575-549-2
History depends on who writes it and the writing of it creates that history. On that basis, much of the history of this country is still missing. Bruce Pascoe has gone some way to correcting this. (more…)
Bird by Bird
Anne Lamott
ISBN: 9781921372476
$27.95
237 pp
Scribe 2008
As a writer, I occasionally pick up a ‘how to…’ book, looking for gems of wisdom or inspiration to ride like a surfboard on the waves of creativity. I have rarely read any of these in their entirety – they have mostly been too dry to be griping, though many were useful (such as How to Build Your Own Particle Accelerator). (more…)
Words to Inspire Writers
Edited by Greg Babic
Published by FC Sach & Sons
ISBN: 978-0-980372-20-5
RRP: US$20, UK£15
Available from Amazon.com
This is indeed an inspiring book for writers. From time to time we sit and stare into space and the wise or goading words of writers past and present may help you to pick up the quill and dip it into the ink pot again. (more…)
Finding the Bloke
Bloke: Who does this bloke think he is?
Bruce Pascoe
Viking/Penguin, Melbourne, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-670-07367-2
It is not often that I start a novel and finish it within four days. My copy of Bloke went with me everywhere so that I could devour another chapter or two between other activities. From page one I was drawn into the Bloke’s world of diving, small-town life, corruption, prison life and love. Like the abalone divers he works with, I came up for air occasionally, gasping. The writing is consistently lyrical and evocative: (more…)
