Delia Falconer interviews Mandy Sayerp4

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M ay 2 011
Readings Monthly
image from cover of mandy sayer's Love in the Years of Lunacy (p4 )
Special Mother ,s Day Edition
Toni Jordan on T.E Lawrence • Anne Enright • Cate Kennedy
Delia Falconer interviews Mandy Sayer p4
Highlights of May book, CD & DVD new releases. More inside.
fiction
fiction
fiction
aus fiction
crime
$33 $24.95
HB $39.95
>> p5
$29.95
Ebook $14.96
>> p8
$32.95 $27.95
>> p7
$26.99
>> p6
$30 $24.95
>> p10
DVD
pop cd
classical
$39.95
Blu-ray $49.95
>> p16
$24.95 $19.95
(May only )
>> p17
2 CDs. $24.95.
>> p19
May event highlights: Jo Chandler with Michael Gawenda & Graeme Pearman ;
‘ The Face of the Book Industry, with Mark Rubbo, Michael Heyward and more.
penguin.com.au
All shops open 7 days, except State Library shop, which is open Monday - Saturday. Carlton 309 Lygon St 9347 6633 Hawthorn 701 Glenferrie Rd 9819
1917 Malvern 185 Glenferrie Rd 9509 1952 Port Melbourne 253 Bay St 9681 9255 St Kilda 112 Acland St 9525 3852 Readings at the State Library of Victoria 328
Swanston St 8664 7540 email us at readings@readings.com.au Browse and buy online at www.readings.com.au and at ebooks.readings.com.au
What do you do when
your mum, your dad
and sixteen camels are
in trouble and only you
can save them? The
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funny story of a boy, a
girl, a dog and four trillion
dollars. A heartwarming
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All he had to do was look
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on, and he would find her.
An unforgettable and
breathtaking novel of
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The magic of Rome told
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chaperone in Eat, Pray,
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the most amazing art,
food and traditions, this
is a very personal, zesty,
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Eternal City.
The CSIRO team
has joined up
with the Baker IDI
Heart and Diabetes
Institute to produce
a practical diet and
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expert guidance on
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2 Readings Monthly May 2011
Meet the bookseller
with …
Justine Douglas, manager,
Readings Port Melbourne
What’s the best book you’ve
read lately?
I have been working my
way through the New
Yorker’s top 20 writers
under 40 list. Yiyun Li’s
collection of stories Gold
Boy and Emerald Girl
is a haunting portrait of contemporary
China that I won’t forget for a long time.
The Ms Hempel Chronicles by Sarah
Shun-Lien Bynum is an enchanting rendering of a young teacher and although
uneventful it is packed with charming
observations. I do think that The Tigers
Wife by Téa Obreht is an absolutely sublime book – the best debut I have read
for many years. Not on the New Yorker
list, but an extraordinarily interesting
book: The Emperor of Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
What have you noticed people buying
lately?
I am pleased to see people buying
gardening books again. The rain we have
had over the last few months seems to
have reinvigorated people’s interest in
gardening. I can highly recommend
A Taste of the Unexpected by Mark
Diacono and Nigel Slater’s Tender
Volume I & II if you are looking to
establish a parterre of your own.
What’s the best experience you’ve had in
a bookshop?
Many years ago I hosted an event with
Robert Dessaix, who was touring with his
book Travels with Turgenev. Dessaix gave
a beautifully erudite explanation of
romantic love and it was a pivotal
moment for me that brought about
enormous change in my life. At the end
of the session I called for questions from
the floor and a lone hand shot up,
‘Do you have a dog?’ the women asked.
Dessaix replied with a delightful anecdote
about his childhood dog and the secret
language that they shared. When I asked
for further questions the same woman
raised her hand, ‘Do you have a wife?’
What was your favourite book as a kid?
The Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book was the most
thumbed book in our household and
I still find reading cookbooks the most
relaxing pursuit. Unconventionally,
I keep my cookbooks in the bedroom,
because perusing Larousse Gastronomique
is the best way to pass a sleepless night.
This Month’s News
Miles Franklin
shortlist &
competition
International IMPAC
Dublin Literary Award
On 19 April, the shortlist was announced
for Australia’s original and most prestigious
literary award, the Miles Franklin. From nine
longlisted authors, just three have made the
shortlist. (Last year, six authors were shortlisted; the last time the shortlist was this,
well, short was 17 years ago, in 1994, when
the contenders were Roger McDonald, for
Water Man, David Malouf, for Remembering
Bablyon, and Rodney Hall, who won for The
Grisly Wife.)
This year, the shortlisted authors and books
are Miles veterans Roger McDonald with
When Colts Ran (Knopf, PB, $32.95) and Kim
Scott with That Deadman Dance (Picador, PB,
$32.95), and Miles newcomer Chris Womersley, with his second novel, Bereft (Scribe, PB,
$32.95, ebook $14.95). It’s a huge compliment
to Womersley to be singled out in this way
with these proven literary heavyweights, and
surely bodes well for his future. Here’s hoping
it will encourage anyone who hasn’t read Bereft
– a terrific atmospheric suspense story set in
rural Australia during the aftermath of World
War I – to hunt it out. This is also the second
all-male Miles shortlist in the past three years,
after the much-discussed ‘sausagefest’ of 2009.
In a year already characterised by fervent discussion of the under-representation of women
in literature, it will be interesting to watch the
response. The Miles winner will be announced
at the award dinner on 22 June.
To celebrate the Miles Franklin Award, we are
delighted to give away a pack of books which
includes a copy of each of the nine longlisted
titles. To enter, email competitions@readings.com.au with the subject ‘Miles Franklin’
and tell us who you think will win, and why.
Competition entry forms are also available
from all Readings shops. All entries must be
received by Friday 17 June and the competition winner will be announced on the
Readings blog on 22 June. We will publish a
selection of commended entries on our Readings blog.
It’s book awards season at the moment and
the latest shortlist to be announced is the
International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
(aka the richest literary award in the world) –
the winner receives 100,000 euro. Australian
writers have fared well with David Malouf,
Craig Silvey and UK-based Evie Wyld all
being shortlisted. Here is the shortlist in full:
Galore by Michael Crummey (Other Press,
PB, $21.95), The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (Faber, PB, $23.99), The Vagrants by
Yiyun Li (Fourth Estate, PB, $24.99), Ransom by David Malouf (Vintage, PB, $24.95),
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
(Bloomsbury, PB, $22.99), Little Bird of
Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates (Fourth Estate,
PB, $24.99), Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
(A&U, $23.99), Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
(Picador, PB, $22.99), Love and Summer by
William Trevor (Penguin, PB, $24.95) and
After the Fire, a Still, Small Voice by Evie Wyld
(Vintage, PB, $24.95). The winner of the
prize will be announced on 15 June.
Give your mum a lovely
Mother’s Day surprise this
year. Buy any book featured
in the May Readings Monthly
and enter the draw to win a
library of 60 Vintage Classics
of your Mum’s choice! To
enter, complete the competition entry form below and hand in at any
Readings shop with your receipt attached.
Entries must be received by 31 May. Entries
valid only for books purchased at Readings
shops, not online.
Pulitzer Prize
Winners 2011
Naxos Audio Books:
Special Offer The Pulitzer Prize winners have been
announced – and we’re delighted that
Readings favourite A Visit from the Goon
Squad by Jennifer Egan (Anchor, PB, $21.95)
took out the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Egan
also won the US National Book Award for
Goon Squad earlier this year. The General
Non-Fiction Prize went to The Emperor of All
Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Harper-
Vintage Classics
for Mum
Stock up on audio books at Readings
throughout May. For every two Naxos audio
books you buy, you will receive a third free.
The free audio book must be of equal or lesser
value. Browse a wide selection of titles at all
Readings shops (except State Library and online), from classics to contemporary fiction,
poetry, drama, biography and much more.
Offer ends 31 May.
Orange shortlist
The Orange shortlist has been announced
and the contenders are: The Tiger’s Wife by
Téa Obreht (Orion, PB, Normally $29.99,
Our special price $24.95), Room by Emma
Donoghue (Picador, PB, $22.99), Great
House by Nicole Krauss (Viking, PB,
$32.95), Grace Williams Says it Loud by
Emma Henderson (Hodder, PB, $19.99),
Annabel by Kathleen Winter (Jonathan
Cape, HB, $32.95), The Memory of Love by
Aminatta Forna (Bloomsbury, PB, $22.99).
The winner will be announced on 8 June.
CINEMA
NOVA
Oslo Davis
From the director of the cult-hit MOON, Duncan Jones.
A soldier must travel though time to discover the
perpetrator of terrorist attack on a major US city.
Based on the chilling true story “Brilliant”
of South Australian serial killer ABC Radio 891am
John Bunting.
“Masterpiece”
Jim Schembri, The Age
380 LYGON ST CARLTON
www.cinemanova.com.au
“An exciting, intellectually stimulating science-fiction thriller”
Empire
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RECOMMENDS
Visit the new Cinema Nova Bar
COMMENCES MAY 5
Collins, PB, $35), which Readings’ Justine
Douglas mentions on this page as one of her
favourite recent reads. The Poetry Prize went
to The Best of It by Kay Ryan (Grove, PB,
$20.95), the Biography Prize went to Washington: A Life (Ron Chernow, Allen Lane,
HB, $59.95) and the History Prize went to
The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery (Norton, HB, $37.95).
“A triumph”
Screen Daily
Online bookings available
Join our e-news for updates on the Met Opera,
National Theatre and other stage spectaculars.
COMMENCES MAY 19
WINNER: Audience Award
2011 Adelaide Film Festival
WIN A LIBRARY OF VINTAGE CLASSICS
Like something extra for Mother’s Day? Buy any book in the May edition of the Readings Monthly, attach your proof of purchase to this form ,
hand it in at any Readings shop counter, and you’ll go in the draw to WIN a library of sixty Vintage Classic books. Competition ends 31.05.11.
Name : __________________________ Email : __________________________________________
Vintage Classics are still only $12.95 at all Readings shops. See full list of titles available at www.readings.com.au.
Readings Monthly May 2011 3
Events in May
All our Readings book and music events are
entry by gold coin donation, unless otherwise stated. Please note that bookings do not
guarantee a seat, but rather indicate to us the
number of people to expect. To see more events
or for updates on new events, please visit the
events page at www.readings.com.au.
Readings and Ubud
Readers & Writers’
Festival
Fire up your imagination on a holiday made
for literary lovers! Together with Intrepid
Travel, Readings is seeking expressions of
interest for a special opportunity to enjoy
the Ubud Readers and Writers’ Festival
in Bali from 5–9 October. Our package
includes the festival, accommodation,
opportunities to meet writers and explore
Bali. Please email expressions of interest to
chris.gordon@readings.com.au by 21 May.
4
Susanna de Vries
Art historian Susanna De Vries has written
about great Australian women in her new
book, Trailblazers: Caroline Chisholm to
Quentin Bryce (Pirgos, PB, $39.95).
Wednesday 4 May, 6.30pm, Readings
Hawthorn. Free, but book on 9819 1917.
5
Kelly Doust
In this beautifully illustrated mix of memoir,
thoughts, fantasies and conversations with
women, A Life in Frocks (Pier 9, PB, $29.95)
is a book for those who find fashion beguiling, fickle and fabulous. Kelly is a joy to be
with – you will head home with a warm glow.
Thursday 5 May, 6.30pm, Readings Hawthorn. Free, but please book on 9819 1917.
9
Poetry to Pages
This month acclaimed Australian poet
Alison Croggon, whose most recent collection is Theatre (Salt, HB, $35), will be joined
by Chloe Wilson, author of The Mermaid
Problem (PB, $9.95) and Jessica Wilkinson,
whose debut collection, Oneida, will be
released by Ahadada Books. Monday 9 May,
6.30pm, Readings Carlton. Free, no need to
book.
9
Ted Hopkins
in conversation
with John Harms
Ted helped Carlton win the 1970 AFL
premiership flag by kicking four goals
against Collingwood. Recently, he started
Champion Data, a company that started the
footy statistics revolution (think Supercoach
and AFL Dream Team). It’s the basis of Ted’s
book, The Stats Revolution (Slattery, HB,
$30). John Harms is a sports journalist.
Tuesday 10 May, 6.30pm, Readings Carlton. Please book on 9347 6633.
10
Fiona Cochrane
in conversation
with Paul Harris
Film director Fiona Cochrane will be
quizzed by Paul Harris (who runs Film
Buff Forecast and the St Kilda Short Film
Festival) about her debut film Four of a
Kind. They will also touch on Fiona’s awardwinning documentary, Music of the Brain.
Tuesday 10 May, 6.30pm, Readings St
Kilda. Free, but please book on 9525 3852.
10
5
Angela Di Sciascio
in conversation with
Jane O’Connor
Angela Di Sciascio discusses her book,
Finding Valentino (MUP, PB, $29.95).
When Angela’s father gets Alzheimer’s, she
decides not to let his story fade, travelling
the length and breadth of Italy, to absorb her
father’s culture. Jane O’Connor is the editor
of Italianicious magazine. Thursday 5 May,
6.30pm, Conference Room, Museo Italiano,
Co.As.It., 199 Faraday Street, Carlton.
Free, but please book on 9347 6633.
6
My Friend the
Chocolate Cake
Join us as Melbourne favourite chamber-pop
band, My Friend the Chocolate Cake launch
their brand new album Fiasco. Friday 6 May,
6pm, Readings Carlton. Free, no need to
book.
7
Jane and Anna
celebrate Mothers' day
Bring your 2–5 year olds to
hear Anna and Jane read their
wonderful book All through
the Year (Viking, HB, $24.95)
and to make a special
Mother’s Day card, or a card
about your favourite season to
take home). Saturday 7 May,
2pm, Readings Port Melbourne.
Cost per mother and child: $25, includes a
take-home copy of All through the Year. Art
equipment supplied. Bookings essential: 9681
9255.
Our Australian Girl
Design Workshop
The makers of the Our
Australian Girl series (Puffin,
PB, $14.95 each) celebrate
young readers and our history.
Together, mothers and
daughters (6–12 year olds)
will create a personal collage
to take home. Places limited.
Tuesday 10 May, 4.30pm–5.30pm,
Readings Hawthorn. $20 per mother and
daughter, includes art equipment and a copy
of the latest Our Australian Girl book. Bring
two photos of yourself to the workshop.
Please book on 9819 1917.
12
Manfred Jurgensen
in conversation with
Barry Jones
Barry Jones will talk with Manfred Jurgensen
about his book Five Weeks at Humanitas
(Hybrid, HB, $45). In this ‘bio-novel’ with
a difference, he has chosen to reveal his life
history – to a large extent dominated by
World War II – in an original and unusual
form. Thursday 12 May, 6.30pm, Readings
Carlton. Free, please book on 9347 6633.
17
Jo Chandler
with Michael Gawenda
& Graeme Pearman
Jo Chandler’s book, Feeling the Heat (MUP,
PB, $36.99), is a personal journey to climate
change frontiers, including Antarctica and the
Great Barrier Reef. Michael Gawenda, former
editor of The Age and Graeme Pearman,
former chief of CSIRO atmospheric research,
talk with her about her work. Tuesday 17
May, 6.30pm, Readings Carlton. Free, please
book on 9347 6633.
17
Sarah Irving
with Raimond Gaita
Both authors have written on Gaza and both
deplore the horror of it all. Sarah’s book,
Gaza: Beneath the Bombs (with Sharyn Lock,
Pluto, PB, $39.95) explores the reality of life
in Gaza. Rai’s book Gaza Law, Morality and
Politics (Text, PB, $29.95) brings together a
thought-provoking collection of essays on the
subject of conflict. Tuesday 17 May, 6.30pm,
Readings St Kilda. Free, please book on
9525 3852.
18
The Face of the
Book Industry
Together with Kill Your Darlings, we are delighted to bring together Mark Rubbo, managing director of Readings, Michael Heyward,
publisher at Text and Matthia Dempsey,
editor-in-chief of Bookseller+Publisher to
discuss the future of the book industry and
book-buying. Chaired by Rebecca Starford,
editor of Kill Your Darlings. Wednesday 18
May, 6.30pm, Cinema Nova. Free, but please
book on 9347 6633.
22
Melbourne’s
Affordable Art Fair
Visit the Readings stand. We will be surrounded by art books! Thursday 19–Sunday
22 May. Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton.
24
Sonia Falerio
Beautiful Thing: Portrait of a Bombay Bar
Dancer (Black Inc., PB, $29.95, ebook
$13.56) is Sonia Faleiro’s story of her report
on Bombay’s bar dancers. Tuesday 24 May,
6.30pm, Carlton shop. Bookings 9347 6633.
25
Cassandra Clare
With over one million books in print, in 19
different languages, and appearances on bestseller lists worldwide, the latest in Cassandra
Clare’s Mortal Instruments series, City of Fallen Angels (PB, $27.95) promises to bring the
world of YA fantasy to a standstill. Wednesday 25 May, 6.30pm, Westgarth Theatre.
27
Kristin Cashore
Chat about all things fantastical with the
author of Graceling and Fire (both Gollancz,
PB, $22.99). Friday 27 May, 5pm–6pm,
Readings State Library of Victoria.
12
Jacqueline Lunn
in conversation
with Kate Legge
Lunn’s debut novel, Under the Influence
(Vintage, PB, $32.95), tells the story of two
old school friends reunited for a funeral that
forces them to face the past and a secret they
once shared. Kate Legge is a novelist and journalist. Thursday 12 May, 6.30pm, Readings
Port Melbourne. Free, book on 9681 9255.
30
What it is? 2: The Town
That Comics Built
With Mike Shuttleworth, Bernard Caleo and
Brenton McKenna. In January, the French
town of Angoulême attracts writers, artists,
publishers and readers of comics from across
the world. This year, Mike Shuttleworth was
among them and he and Bernard will build
Angoulême live on stage at Readings. And
meet Brenton McKenna, whose kids’ graphic
novel, Ubby’s Underdogs: The Legend of the
Phoenix Dragon, (Magabala, PB, $24.95) is
set in Broome. Plus the kamishibai (Japanese
‘paper theatre’) and the classic Jean-Paul and
his comics. Monday 30 May, 8pm, Readings
Carlton. Free, no need to book.
Book launches
Ruth Carson
An Unquiet State (SidHarta, PB, $24.95) follows the trials of a young woman living alone
in a rural area. Wednesday 18 May, 6.30pm,
Readings Carlton. Free, no need to book.
John Clare
Helen Garner will launch Take Me Higher
(Extempore, PB, $29.95), John Clare’s latest collection of short stories. Thursday 19
May, 6.30pm, Readings Carlton. Free, no
need to book.
Christopher Currie
The Ottoman Motel (Text, PB, $32.95,
ebook $14.96) is a moving and nuanced
debut novel about childhood fear and loss.
Monday 23 May, 6.30pm Readings Carlton.
Free, no need to book.
Iain McIntyre
& Ian Marks
Join us for a night of rock and roll as we
celebrate the release of Wild About You!
(Verse Chorus Press, PB, $39.95). Thursday
26 May, 6.30pm, Readings Carlton. Free,
no need to book.
Scott Jordan
Scott Jordan’s Upon the Sheep’s Back (SidHarta, PB, $24.95) is an A-grade Melbournebased thriller. Thursday 26 May, 6.30pm,
Readings Hawthorn. Free, no need to book.
Cate Kennedy
The Taste of River Water: New and Selected
Poems (Scribe, PB, $24.95, ebook $14.95)
is disarming, warm and accessible. Cate
Kennedy’s poems make ordinary experiences
glow. Friday 27 May, 6.30pm, Readings
Lauren Rosewarne
Part-Time Perverts: Sex, Pop Culture and
Kink Management is an interdisciplinary
exploration of sexual perversion in everyday
life. Tuesday 31 May, 6.30pm, Readings
Coming in June
Craig Sherborne
in conversation
with Luke May
The Amateur Science of Love (Text, PB,
$32.95), is the long-awaited debut novel
from the author of Hoi Polloi and Muck.
Thursday 2 June, 6.30pm, Readings St
Kilda. Free, bookings: 9525 3852.
Geraldine Brooks
Australian-born Geraldine Brooks was
awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2006
for March. Her new novel is Caleb’s Crossing
(Normally $33, Our special price $24.95,
HB $39.99). Saturday 4 June, 10.30am,
Readings Hawthorn. Tickets $5 per person,
redeemable on purchase of the Caleb’s Crossing. Please book on 9819 1917 or at the
Hawthorn shop.
Malcolm Fraser
Our Say presents a special event with Malcom
Fraser and Margaret Simons. Log on to www.
oursay.org to create a question or vote for
a question. On the night, Malcolm Fraser
will answer the top three. Tuesday 7 June,
6:30pm, Readings Hawthorn. Free, but
please book on 9347 6633.
New Australian Writing Feature
Music in the jungle
Delia Falconer interviews Mandy Sayer about Love in the Years of Lunacy (A&U, PB, Was $33, Our price $27.95)
travelled to America as a teenager – him
drumming, her tapdancing – busking on
the streets. Her novel The Cross is a fictional
thriller based on Juanita Nielsen’s disappearance (the Sayers themselves lived on contested
Victoria Street); while she has also co-written
a play with husband Louis Nowra about Rosaleen Norton, the ‘witch’ of the Cross. And,
as if to keep the momentum of this chain of
stories going, it turns out the club’s doorman,
who greets Mandy warmly, played in one of
her late father’s bands.
In fact, Sayer says, her ambition for some
time has been to ‘do a bit of a [William]
Faulkner’ in that all her characters are linked
between different books and different eras,
and family lines. It’s an interesting identification. I have always thought of Mandy, with
her versatility across genres, deep love of
Sydney and its eccentrics, and the unforced
warmth of her writing, as the literary descendant of Ruth Park.
Mandy Sayer is one of
Australia’s best known writers
of fiction and memoir. Her
many awards include the
Vogel for her first novel,
Mood Indigo, the National
Biography Award for
Dreamtime Alice and The
Age Book of the Year for Velocity. Writer and
literary critic Delia Falconer spoke to Mandy
for Readings’ New Australian Writing series
about her latest novel, Love in the Years of
Lunacy (A&U, PB, Normally $33, Our
special price $27.95).
M
andy Sayer’s new novel,
an epic love story set
during World War II,
began with an image of
the revolving stage at
Sydney’s famous palais de
danse, the Trocadero. ‘Having heard those
stories from my father, who played there in a
men’s band and described how the women’s
band would come on and play,’ Sayer says, ‘I
thought about the book for ten years. And
then it took ten years to write.’
From this image came her 19-year-old heroine Pearl, who lives with her musician family
in down-at-heel Potts Point, and plays alto
saxophone in one of the Troc’s all-girl swing
bands. Her twin brother Martin plays tenor
sax in another. She is a gifted musician –
true to life, says Sayer, as many of the men
she spoke to remembered the all-girl bands
as ‘bloody good’. But when Martin smuggles
Pearl onto the stage to play jazz at the
Booker T. Washington Club for Negroes in
Surry Hills, and she hears African-American
serviceman James Washington improvising
bebop, she feels she can barely play at all. He
follows her outside, and a great love begins.
Mandy and I are not far into our conversation, on the terrace of our local club in Sydney’s Kings Cross, when she remembers another starting point, tied to a love story of her
own. ‘Many years ago, when I was married to
my first husband [African American author
Yusef Komunyakaa], I came up with the idea
of writing a novel in letters. What we would
do would be pretend to be the character and
post them to each other. So I wrote the first
one – his name was James Washington – in
the voice of Pearl. And he never posted a letter back. So that was the end of the marriage
– for many other reasons – but that was the
kernel of the novel.’
Another plotline, she says, was inspired by an
uncle who had cards printed identifying him
as a train or restaurant inspector, in order to
arrest people or demand free meals. A concert
pianist by trade, he faked his way into the
army’s entertainment unit, and travelled with
them for a year, by perfectly mimicking the
actions of playing the trombone.
The way these stories flow one into the other
will not surprise anyone who knows Sayer’s
fiction and non-fiction. Her books all seem
to stem in some way from her extraordinary
young life, most of it spent here in Sydney’s
bohemian heartland, where she still lives.
Dreamtime Alice, and its prequel Velocity,
recount the volatile love between her mother
and musician father, with whom Mandy
Pearl and James’s first date coincides with
the bombing of Sydney Harbour by Japanese midget subs. Abandoned by Luna Park
attendants on the speeding ghost train as the
sirens wail, they jump free, and crawl into
another ride, the Love Bug. Here, in one of
the tubs hanging from its revolving arms, not
knowing how much of Sydney is being destroyed around them, they make love for the
first time. Ironically, terror provides a private
space for the couple, as James has been cautious about being physically demonstrative in
public. It is a great set-piece, which launches a
love on a legendary scale, but also establishes
its tragic nature. When James asks his white
commander for permission to marry – which
is legal under Australian law, but banned in
many US states – he is not only denied it, but
summarily shipped to Queensland, en route
to New Guinea. For a while, under the care of
the ‘Master of Lunacy,’ Pearl goes quietly mad
(though we would view her affliction these
days as depression).
Strangely, Mandy says that she found this
section of her novel the hardest to write,
precisely because it was ‘so familiar’. Even the
music, which constitutes such a joyful and
naturally integrated part of her book, was
difficult: while she can play by ear, studying
the theory and technique of bebop involved
a great deal of research. In retrospect, she
realises she entered the project ‘quite naively’,
knowing very little about the war in the Pacific and nothing about the military, until she
undertook a university course on the history
of World War II.
New Guinea was another challenge: while
she really wanted to travel there, it was too
dangerous. Yet this strengthened her imagination. ‘I remember when I was studying with
[American writer] Maxine Hong Kingston
she was talking about her book China Men,
and she said that she researched the American West but she hadn’t actually been there.
She wrote about it, and when she and her
husband were subsequently driving through
it after the book had been published she said,
ah, it’s just the way I imagined it. It’s funny
isn’t it?’
It is in this second half, set in New Guinea’s
forests, that Love in the Years of Lunacy is
freshest and most involving. Pearl has connected body and soul with the absent James,
by practising the jazz techniques he has
taught her. Then, through a clever plot twist
I won’t give away, she sets out to find him.
Sayer wrests the war in New Guinea entirely
‘I have always
thought of Mandy,
with her … deep
love of Sydney
and its eccentrics,
and the unforced
warmth of her
writing, as the
literary descendant
of Ruth Park.’
away from today’s macho fetishisation of the
Kokoda Track as a kind of extreme marathon
for second-rate TV celebrities and politicians.
‘I was keen to avoid that because it’s been so
overwritten in the public imagination,’ she
says.
It is enough to say that there is music in the
jungle – and it is Sayer’s sensitive descriptions of her characters’ grit, discomfort, and
the sense of what music can mean to men
far from home, that make the novel’s second
half so engrossing. In its most moving scene,
even Japanese enemy soldiers emerge from
the trees to listen (true, Mandy says: in some
instances enemy troops were so enthralled by
the performance of music that they even gave
themselves away by clapping).
This novel’s representation of black American troops’ treatment in the Pacific is also
a revelation. Mandy was interested to learn
through her research that they were welcomed
by Australians, on the whole, as simply part
of the American forces ‘coming here to save
us’. But to the white Americans, they were
still second-class citizens; not only banned by
their commanding officers from ‘white’ clubs,
but also assigned menial tasks and separate
quarters. ‘The biggest shock for me in my
research,’ she says, ‘was that African American
soldiers during the war in the Pacific weren’t
allowed to arm themselves – that’s terrifying,
especially when you have white sergeants,
CEOS, who are out to get you.’
But it is the love story that drives Love in the
Years of Lunacy, which has the direct, slightly
pared-down quality of fairytale. And, always,
the music. The novel will be launched,
naturally, in Kings Cross – at an event featuring members of a Sydney big band that still
preserves the Trocadero style and sound.
Delia Falconer is an acclaimed novelist and
literary critic. Her latest book is Sydney (New
South, HB, $29.95), a history of her hometown that describes a place beautiful, violent,
half-wild, and at times deeply spiritual.
Q&A with
Geraldine Brooks
Readings managing director Mark Rubbo
interviews Geraldine Brooks about Caleb’s
Crossing.
All of your novels are based
on historical events and
explore big themes.
In Caleb’s Crossing, it’s
the clash of cultures and
beliefs. Do you have an
idea of issues you want to
explore and then find the
event to suit, or does the event inform the
exploration?
It’s always all about the story for me.
The themes just seep into the tale telling
without any conscious thought. But I do
think the stories from the past that attract
me tend to be about people under stress,
during moments of crisis or decision.
In an interview you said that your journalistic training meant that you threw
words down on the page and then fixed
them up later. The voice in this book, the
young woman Bethia who befriends the
young Indian, is perfect in expression and
tone and is as one would imagine a young
woman in the seventeenth century would
write. This seems to belie the ‘throwing
down of words’. Can you tell us – how you
do find the voice?
Some days the writing is fluid, some days
not. Those days, you go back to the material the next day, and revise and revise
until it feels right. The voice for Bethia
was more difficult than many because
there is little written by colonial women
or girls before 1750 that has survived,
and my tale takes place 100 years earlier.
I had a few shards of verbatim court records, a few letters and so forth from the
period, but not a lot. I had to create her
voice from these scant raw materials.
The impact of Europeans on the indigenous
society and culture seems peripheral to the
American story. Do you agree, and is this
something Caleb’s Crossing is trying to
redress?
I would disagree with that. I think it is
integral to the story, which doesn’t mean
there aren’t the same controversies, the
same labelling as ‘black armband history’
that we encounter in Australia when
someone tries to probe first contact and
the history of indigenous relations with
European colonists.
The book’s main setting is the island of
Noepe, now known as Martha’s Vineyard.
Your descriptions of the natural surroundings are very vivid, but I imagine the area
as much-changed. How did you do your
research?
Not as changed as you might think. A
third of the vineyard is undeveloped,
which is one of the reasons I love it so.
There’s a particular high point that I like
to hike to, and from there you can see
from one shore of the island to the other
and not see a single man-made thing. It is
true the woods are different now, as much
of the land was cleared in the 1800s, so
the forest is regrowth … but the beaches
and the salt marshes, lagoons and ponds
are little different to the way they would
have been in the seventeenth century.
I saw your unashamed lobbying of US
reviewer Ron Charles when you tried to
get People of the Book considered for his
ten best books of 2010. Are you going to
try again?
Absolutely! But I think I’ll have to up the
ante and threaten his kid next time.
Read Mark's review of Caleb’s Crossing
in the next column.
Book of the Month
Caleb’s Crossing
Geraldine Brooks
HarperCollins. PB. Normally $33
Our special price $24.95
HB. $39.99
Geraldine Brooks’ great
skill is taking small
historical moments and
writing them large, using
them to create a bigger
picture. In 1665, a young
man became the first
Native American to
graduate from Harvard College. Very
little is known about this man and so
Brooks has created a life and world for
him: Caleb.
The story is told through the eyes of a
strong-willed and intelligent woman,
Bethia, the daughter of a preacher and
settler on the island now known as Martha’s Vineyard. Bethia derives from the
Hebrew and means ‘daughter of God’.
The relationship between the indigenous
people of Martha’s Vineyard and the
settlers, though largely peaceful, is not
without tensions and suspicion. The settlers have attempted to act fairly in their
acquisition of land, at least by English
standards, but the concept of land
ownership is different in Indian culture;
the evangelical Christianity also brings
its tensions. As a girl, Bethia meets and
befriends a young Indian man who she
names Caleb. Caleb teaches Bethia about
his world and in turn Bethia teaches
him about hers. For these bright young
people, there is a willing and productive
transfer of knowledge that grows into a
strong and lasting friendship.
Brooks tackles big issues in this book
and gives them a universality that is not
confined to the period it covers. Among
them are the issues of women’s rights,
conflict between cultures, affirmative
action and the nature of god and religion.
Big stuff, but Brooks does it through the
telling of a fascinating and rich story. Her
recreation of this seventeenth-century
New World is so very believable; this is
her great skill, and what makes the story
so compelling and enjoyable. Although
ostensibly about Caleb, this story is essentially about Bethia and the way she
interacts with her world. We are fortunate that Brooks has made her such an
engaged and astute observer.
Mark Rubbo is managing director
of Readings
the
festival
for
writers.
emergingwritersfestival.org.au
melbourne
26 may —
5 June
2011
15 Minutes of faMe
48 Hour Play Generator
Creative WritinG BootCaMP
toWn Hall Writers’ ConferenCe
tHe PitCH
PaGe Parlour
dirty Words
livinG liBrary
tWitterfest &
MuCH More!
Best Books
for Mother,s Day
Presenting our top 12 picks for Mother’s Day, as selected by Readings staff
– in no particular order. Enjoy!
The Summer
Without Men
Siri Hustvedt
Sceptre. PB. Normally $24.95
Our reviewer praised the
‘elegant, cerebral novels
and darkly bewitching
storytelling’ of the author
of What I Loved, counting
this whip-smart battle-ofthe-sexes comic romance
(featuring an all-female
cast) as among her best work.
The Tiger’s Wife
Téa Obreht
Orion. PB. Normally $29.99
This extraordinarily
sophisticated and inventive novel set in a war-torn
Balkans has attracted
worldwide accolades,
including from The New
York Times. Our reviewer
Martin Shaw has already
called it ‘my book of the year’.
Caleb’s Crossing
Geraldine Brooks
Fourth Estate. PB. Normally $33
Our special price $24.95. HB $39.99
The latest from the
Pulitzer Prize-winning
author of March and Year
of Wonders takes a
little-known shard of
history and brings it to
fictional life, looking at
the first Native American
to graduate from Harvard College.
Past the Shallows
Favel Parrett
Hachette. PB. $26.99
This beautifully written,
sensitively evoked novel
tells the story of three
motherless brothers in
a coastal fishing town.
Our reviewer called it
‘an extraordinary debut’
and it’s already a
Readings favourite.
Franklin & Eleanor
Notebooks
Betty Churcher
MUP. HB. Normally $45
Our reviewer said of this
tour by a former director
of the National Gallery of
Australia: ‘The next-best
thing to viewing a
masterpiece or two is
reading about it in a book
this engaging’.
Before I Go to Sleep
S.J. Watson
Text. PB. $29.95. Ebook $19.95.
The most gripping
psychological thriller
you’ll read all year.
Readings’ Mark Rubbo
described this tale of an
amnesiac woman who
must reconstruct her life
every day as ‘something
quite extraordinary’.
The Gallows Bird
Camilla Lackberg
HarperCollins. PB. Normally $32.99
Val McDermid calls this ‘a
masterclass in Scandinavian crime writing’.
Detective Patrik Henderson is dealing with a serial
killer who hides behind
‘accidents’ and the filming
of a reality TV show.
Mangia Mangia
Teresa Oates & Angela Villella
Lantern. HB. Normally $39.95
‘Teresa and Angela have
collected their own family
recipes for preparing and
preserving food and have
illustrated them with
family photographs,
which capture the warmth
and generosity these
women exude,’ observed our enchanted
food columnist, Justine Douglas.
Bossypants
Tina Fey
Hazel Rowley
Little Brown. PB. Normally $33
A memoir as smart,
funny and likeable as
Fey herself. She riffs
effortlessly on working
in the boys’ club of
comedy, juggling work
and motherhood, impersonating Sarah Palin,
and her (platonic) love for Alec Baldwin.
Kitchen Gardens
of Australia
Five Bells
MUP. PB. $36.99
‘Hazel Rowley excels at
writing about influential
life partnerships,’ said
our reviewer, ‘this is a
deceptively easy read
and a great introduction
to one of the most
influential political
partnerships of the twentieth century’.
Kate Herd
Lantern. HB. $49.95
Join passionate Melbourne
designer and green-gardener Kate Herd on her
journey around Australia
to 18 diverse kitchen
gardens, beautifully
captured by photographer
Simon Griffiths.
Gail Jones
Vintage. PB. Normally $29.95
Fiona McGregor, writing
for Readings, said ‘long
after finishing Five Bells, I
am still thinking about
the lives of these four
characters, the pasts that
haunt them, and the
different directions they
embark on at the novel’s brilliant ending’.
‘Sayer’s prose... has the immediacy
and power of a punch in the face.’
Australian Book Review
New Fiction
Australian Ficton
Past the Shallows
Favel Parrett
Headline. PB. $26.99
This novel is cold. An ever
present dampness, ‘wet from
the river and wet from the
rain’, seeps underneath the
door and somehow all the
jumpers and blankets in the
world won’t warm you
through. Of course, it doesn’t
help if you keep forgetting your gloves and
there are no curtains in your bedroom. But
no one is around to remind Harry, apart
from his older brother Miles – and he is
helping Dad on the boat most days now.
There is no one to meet the boys after school
and no one to make sure there is bread or
milk. The brothers look after one another as
best they can: an extra teaspoon of Milo for
Miles to stave off a cold; an impromptu
sleepover at Stuart’s place for Harry when
Miles cops a blow from his father after two
days of drinking.
Sydney, 1942. Pearl plays saxophone in the bars of Kings Cross, and
embarks on a secret aﬀair with a black GI. As war moves them further
and further apart, Pearl hatches a breathtaking plan against a backdrop
of segregation, fear and lunacy...
OUT NOW
Folk help out as best they can and there are
moments of reprieve from the bleakness: the
simple pleasure of catching a fish and cooking it on a hot plate over the fire and the
delight of finding a 20 dollar note at the Regatta and spending most of it on lollies. But
these kindnesses cannot replace the missing
parts of their childhood and the landscape
underpins this loss: ‘When the forest was
cleared it never looked right when it grew
back. It was missing bits.’ It seems as though
the town itself bears down on its youth and
leaving is a matter of survival (‘I just gotta
get out of here’) rather than an opportunity.
Past the Shallows is an extraordinary debut.
The directness and simplicity of Parrett’s
writing belies an astonishing sensitivity to
the secret lives of these boys and the brutal
environment that has shaped them.
Justine Douglas is manager of Readings Port
Melbourne
I Hate Martin Amis
et al.
Peter Barry
Transit Lounge. PB. $29.95
‘I shall start by writing about
my first victim,’ begins the
most interesting and
engrossing book that I have
read in well over a year. Set
in the mid-nineties, I Hate
Martin Amis et al. is the story
of Milan Zorec, a muchrejected unpublished novelist, recently also
rejected by his girlfriend, who’s determined
to write a book that no publisher will be able
to turn away from. Trading his dead-end job
for the Yugoslavian war, Milan travels from
England to Bosnia to volunteer for the Serb
army and becomes a sniper in Sarajevo
during the final months of the longest siege
in history. Here he hopes to come face-toface with the horrors of humanity so that
he’ll be able to write a book that no publisher can dismiss with the words, ‘I feel like
I’ve seen this before.’
An earlier draft of this book won the 2005
Victorian Premier’s Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. Simply put, this book
is brilliant. It’s written in such a way that it
literally can’t be put down – I sat up until
four in the morning reading it, even though
I had a seven o’clock start the next day. It is
dark and confronting, but at the same time
every sentence is powered by a strange kind
of humour. I found myself jumping from
sentence to sentence and chapter to chapter,
constantly wanting more. I didn’t want to
stop reading.
I Hate Martin Amis et al. is like nothing
you’ll have read before – and I’m sure that
it’s set to be one of the must-reads of 2011.
This book is so well constructed, so well
written and so interesting that it will appeal to anyone. If you’re after a great read
– get this book. If you’re after a great gift –
again, get this book.
Nathan Reid is from Readings Malvern
The Voyagers
Mardi McConochie
Viking. PB. $29.95
Mardi McConchie decided
to write this book after a
conversation with her book
club about wishing for a
good literary romance. And
that’s exactly what she
delivers. At its heart, The
Voyagers follows the
divergent fates of two separated lovers – an
American sailor falls for Sydney woman
Marina while on shore leave, drawn not
only to her physical charms, but to the
spell she casts with her music and the
allure of her ‘questions and theories and
ideas’. He’s also attracted to her vision of
him as a sophisticated adventurer, and
begins ‘to wish that he could have been the
person she wanted him to be’. So, though
set in World War II, this is a thoroughly
contemporary romance – it’s about a
woman loved for her talent and her brains,
by a man who wants to improve himself
according to her vision.
Marina and sailor Stead spend just three
days together, and circumstances (including the outbreak of war) conspire to keep
them apart. But when Stead arrives on
Marina’s doorstep five years after their first
meeting and discovers she’s been missing
for much of that time, he resolves to find
her – and the action follows the pair’s separate misadventures as they struggle along,
longing for one another.
The Voyagers is characterised by elegant prose
and lovely word-pictures. For instance,
passionate musician Marina reflects, ‘every
morning I have to knit myself together at
the piano’. Career and creative endeavour
constantly jostle for position with love and
domesticity in this book, as Marina (and
other characters) struggle to reconcile the
two spheres. McConochie subtly explores
the way war opened up the world for
women, even as it brought tragedy with it.
This is intelligent popular fiction, perfect for
the thinking woman who wants to put her
feet up and be swept away.
Lou Clausen is from Readings Carlton
TOO CLOSE TO HOME
Georgia Blain
Vintage. PB. $32.95
Using an inheritance from
her recently deceased
mother, Freya, an up-andcoming playwright, and
Matt, an architect, have
moved with their young
daughter from the innercity to a nearby suburb on
the brink of gentrification. Freya is happily
creating a comfortable nest for the three of
them, filling the house with tastefully
accumulated objects from their own and
her parents’ lives, and sampling the
authenticity of her new suburb. Matt
meanwhile is more ambivalent – restless in
their newly acquired respectability and the
responsibilities inherent in family and
home ownership.
A chance encounter with Shane, an old
friend, unravels the certainty of their little
world. Shane, an Aboriginal activist, brings
home the messy reality of indigenous life.
He also brings news of Matt’s ex-lover Lisa
and the unsettling possibility of another
child in Matt’s life. When the inevitable
crisis occurs, it is not the marginalised Shane
who succumbs to tragedy; Freya and Matt,
with all their privilege, are the ones whose
lives are diminished.
Freya and Matt’s dilemmas reflect those of
affluent Australia in the twenty-first century
– there is a reluctance to sacrifice any advantage for the sake of change, despite recognising our own part in the problem. Like Freya
and Matt, we are generally reluctant to put
our money where our mouth is. Too Close to
Home is just that. All my own white middleclass, artsy, lefty pretensions were put under
a glaring spotlight – the self-indulgence of
‘inner-city elites’ uncompromisingly laid
bare. Confronting us with our own world,
Georgia Blain gives us no safe distance.
Susan Stevenson is from Readings Malvern
tied proves to be Currie’s strong point. In
fact, they become the most interesting part
of the book in a kind of adventure-thriller
sense. Because what soon becomes apparent
is a Blyton-like detective bent, where the
children outwit the adults. But the book
strives to be more than that.
Lurking below the surface are powerful
motifs of abandonment and loneliness, most
clearly drawn in the disappearance of Ned’s
wife two years before. This is reminiscent of
Chloe Hooper’s Child’s Book of True Crime,
and perhaps O’Brien’s In the Lake of the
Woods, but the tension in Currie’s first book
never gets close to the fear and horror we see
there. Regardless, it is an admirable debut
from a writer who is already well known for
his short fiction.
Luke May is assistant manager
of Readings St Kilda
Letty Fox
Watercolours
MUP. PB. $24.99
Christina Stead is one of
those almost-forgotten
Australian authors now being
devoured by a new generation, thanks in no small part
to Jonathan Franzen’s recent
rave review of The Man Who
Loved Children. Opinion of
Letty Fox was divided on first publication in
1946. Some readers recognised it as a
worldly, ribald and magnificent tale. For
others it was trashy and obscene – a slur on
womanhood. The novel is a comic extravaganza, with a heroine obsessed by marriage
but living a complex, New York-based single
life. Characters include her moping mother,
absent father, and two impossible sisters. In
the introduction to the 1974 edition,
Meghan Morris wrote: ‘Letty Fox had
offended because it presented a woman’s
account of her sexual and emotional life
without following the prescribed formula
for females of modesty, passivity and simple
contentment. It described the way women
do live, not the way they are supposed
to live.’ Thanks to this new edition, this
thoroughly modern classic is now ripe for
rediscovery.
Fourth Estate. PB. $29.99
Novi is an 11-year-old boy
growing up in the fictional
small town of Morus on the
NSW north coast. As the
main character in Adrienne
Ferreira’s debut novel,
Watercolours, Novi’s perspective sets the scene for the
story of a regional town full of people who
know too much about each other’s lives.
Christina Stead
Vogel Winner 2011
A&U. PB. $27.99
For the first time, the winner of Australia’s
leading prize for young debut writers (aged
35 and under) is being kept secret until the
date of publication. So, all we can tell you
is that Cate Kennedy, Geordie Williamson
and Margo Lanagan have judged this the
best book, and that previous Vogel discoveries have included Kate Grenville and Tim
Winton.
The Ottoman Motel
Christopher Currie
Text. PB. $32.95. Ebook $14.96.
When a boy’s parents go
missing in a small hick-town
on the isolated coast of NSW
while visiting his estranged
grandmother, you might
assume that this is a deep
psychological tale of impending doom. Instead, what
follows is a finely plotted and well-paced
mystery perfect for teens.
Eleven-year-old Simon wakes at the motel
to find his parents gone. Immediately he is
swept up in the claustrophobic kindness of a
rural community and thrust into the care of
local Samaritan Ned Gale, who is also housing Simon’s sick grandmother Iris. Alongside
Ned are local policewoman Madaline and a
cavalcade of burly fisherman and publicans,
all willing to help with the search. Add Ned’s
children and the mysterious orphan boy,
Pony, into the mix and we can’t help but
be suspicious of each character’s intentions,
forgetting about the missing couple as other
stories and secrets leak out. How these disparate plot strands are controlled and deftly
Q&A with S. J. Watson
Jo Case interviews S.J. Watson about his debut psychological thriller
Before I Go to Sleep (Text, PB, $29.95. Ebook $14.96)
her character are unchanged; that woman
still exists, even if she is buried deeply. In
some ways Before I Go to Sleep is the story
of Christine’s attempts to reclaim herself,
to take back some control, and to discover
who she is.
Christine is the ultimate unreliable narrator. She can never entirely trust her own
‘memories’ or assumptions – are they real or
imagined? What challenges and opportunities did this present for you, as a writer?
Adrienne Ferreira
Novi’s grandfather was drowned when the
river flooded five years ago, but Novi, a
talented and precocious artist for his young
age, believes that the river ‘murdered’ him.
Dom Best, a young primary school teacher,
new to rural life and to Morus, doesn’t
fully grasp the history and allegiance of the
various townspeople he works with and
befriends, but he is determined to assist
Novi in the development of his art. Eventually, Novi’s paintings and drawings of the
townspeople, the crows and the river itself,
lead to the unearthing of long-held suspicions and guilt.
Ferreira is clearly intimate with the workings of small towns; this shows in her story
of a boy grieving for his grandfather. With
the Rotary Club, the bad coffee shops, the
predominance of sport over art, and the constant tension between locals and tourists, she
creates the world of the Morus community
convincingly. There is much to like in this
first novel, and while the story itself doesn’t
quite lift off the page, it does pull the reader
along, much like the ever-present Lewis River,
one of the main characters in Watercolours.
Pip Newling is a writer and staff member at
Readings Hawthorn
International
Fiction
Forgotten Waltz
Anne Enright
Jonathan Cape. PB. Normally $32.95
In her Booker-winning novel
The Gathering, Anne Enright
gained a raised profile and a
new following. This, her first
novel since, again takes up the
theme of family connections
and domestic secrets, in a
story that centres on an affair.
Gina meets Sean, her sister’s neighbour, at her
niece’s birthday party – and again on a beach
holiday. There are prickles of interest, but no
real connection. When Gina’s employer needs
to hire a management consultant, she suggests
Sean, and the wheels are in train for a
relationship that will break up two marriages,
divide sisters against each other, and set a
child, Sean’s daughter Evie, adrift between her
separated parents.
Enright is a master of taut domestic realism
– she has a forensic eye for the way people
Your narrator, Christine, is
afflicted with a rare kind of
amnesia, in which her
memory can only retain the
events of the day. Each time
she wakes, she starts her
identity from scratch, not
knowing how the years
between childhood and middle age
unfolded. How did you learn of this
neurological condition, and what was the
impetus for building a character and
situation around it?
I was about to start my course at the
Faber Academy and I was looking for
ideas for a new novel to be working on.
I came across an obituary of man called
Henry Molaison. He’d been 82 when
he died, but, since an operation at the
age of 26, had been unable to form
new memories. The obituary described
how every time he saw the doctor (with
whom he’d worked for decades and who
considered him to be a friend), he had
to be introduced to her as if they’d never
met. He lived totally in the present. I was
immediately struck by a mental image
of a woman looking in the mirror, in a
house she did not recognise, expecting
to see a young girl reflected there, but
instead seeing a woman approaching 50
years of age.
The character of Christine came to me almost immediately, and I realised that hers
was the story I wanted to be working on.
I felt that through it I could explore some
of the issues I’d been thinking about,
to do with identity and love, and also
power. I knew that to do that, I would
need her to be able to retain memories
for a few hours at a time, so her condition is not exactly the same as Molaison’s,
but his story was the trigger. In fact, as I
was writing Before I Go to Sleep I didn’t
think my character’s condition could
exist at all, but since finishing I have read
of one case in the UK of a woman with
an almost identical condition, so it wasn’t
all artistic licence after all!
Christine is, as she reflects in the opening
pages, ‘vulnerable as a child’, uniquely
reliant on her husband and doctor to
structure her days (and even her self ). Yet
she also proves uncannily resourceful. What
interested you about that blend of helplessness and agency?
I knew that it would have been terribly
easy to make Christine a victim, and that
didn’t interest me. I wanted the reader
to understand that she was a resourceful, confident woman, who had been
living a full life until something terrible
happened to her. The fundamentals of
The biggest challenge was writing it in
the first person! It was technically very
difficult to write the story of a woman
who doesn’t remember what has happened
previously. Yet writing it in the third person would have resulted in a very different book and, once I’d found a structure
that worked, the first-person narrative
became one of the things I most enjoyed
about writing this book. It meant that,
throughout the story, the reader is always
in the same place, mentally, as Christine.
The reader knows what she knows – no
more and no less – and believes what she
believes. I enjoyed taking the reader on
exactly the same journey that Christine is
on. It also meant I could play around with
the idea of ‘false memory’. It fascinates me
that we can have very strong ‘memories’ of
something that never actually happened,
or we can misremember events that did
happen, and these false memories affect
us as strongly as if they were true. It leads
to the uncomfortable conclusion that the
idea of ‘truth’ is really quite nebulous.
Before I Go to Sleep makes conscious the
way we assemble our lives from fragments of
experience and personality. Christine refers
to ‘these trivialities ... these small hooks on
which a life is hung’. Were you consciously
interested in exploring this everyday assembly
of the self?
Yes. I think we rarely look at ourselves
and think about the reasons why we act a
certain way, or have a certain set of beliefs,
yet in some ways we are an accumulation
of our memories. Sometimes there are big
events that shape us, for better or worse,
and sometimes our memory of those
events can be repressed. Eternal Sunshine
of the Spotless Mind looked at that brilliantly. Yet I’m also interested in how the
smaller things, the trivialities can have
a cumulative effect, how they can shape
our beliefs about the world and about
ourselves us.
This is such a gripping read – it seems there
are new revelations and questions raised on
almost every page, and the reader is sucked
deep into Christine’s quest to discover the
truth about her situation from the start.
How hard did you have to work to get the
pacing and the timing of the revelations just
right? Was it a tricky book to work with,
structurally?
Thank you! It was hard to find the right
structure for the book. For a long time
I struggled with how to tell the story
honestly, in Christine’s voice, without
making it repetitive for the reader. But
once I’d found a form that worked it came
relatively easily. At times it almost felt as
if the story already existed, and I was just
discovering it. During the edit I had to
make sure it had the right pace, but at no
point during the writing did I find myself
thinking ‘Oh, I’d better have a revelation
here.’ It all just came quite naturally!
See our website (www.readings.com.au) for
the long version of this interview.
interact, and the meaning that attaches to
seemingly irrelevant things they say and do.
Cleaning up after another party at which
they’ve collided, Gina reflects, ‘When the
last small guest was gone and the rubbish bin
full of packaging and uneaten lasagne the
thought of him – the fact of him – happened
in my chest, like a distant disaster. Something
snapped or was broken.’ This blend of ordinary, even dull detail and epic event recurs
throughout the book, creating the sense that
this is an ordinary, even clichéd happening,
yet also extraordinary for those it is happening to. This self-awareness is mirrored in
Gina’s wry narration: ‘The office game was
another game for us to play, after the suburban couples game, and before the game of
hotel assignations and fabulous, illicit lust.’
many and gone off with a one-night stand.
When she stumbles into the bathroom,
the woman she sees reflected is not her,
but a middle-aged woman – and the mirror is surrounded by photographs of the
woman in the mirror and the man in the
bed. Christine has a rare memory disorder
brought about by some traumatic accident;
she has vague memories of a distant past,
but each morning she wakes remembering
nothing of her recent past. It’s a fascinating concept and raises questions of how
memory anchors the past and the future.
As a story it could present limitations,
as each day has more or less the same
beginning and end. But Watson turns
Christine’s life into a fascinating story that
builds into a startling crescendo. Admittedly, you have to suspend belief at times,
but overall it’s a compelling and convincing tale that I found immensely satisfying.
Mark Rubbo is managing director of Readings
This is an anatomy of an affair – how and why
it plays out. And all the while, as it constructs
the clichéd players, it goes behind those clichés
and dissects their reality. With charismatic,
flawed, beautifully realised characters and
exquisite prose, this is a wonderful book.
Jo Case is editor of Readings Monthly
Big Girl Small
Rachel DeWoskin
Text. PB. $29.95. Ebook $19.95
Books that are written
about teenagers but aimed
at adults are often a tricky
sell, but to be honest, I’ve
never read a book in the
genre that wasn’t worth it.
DeWoskin follows the
trend. Judy Lohden, 16,
who’s just moved to a new arts school, is
nervous about being accepted, and
develops a crush on hopeful cinematographer Jeff. But her story splits from the
average tale of adolescent trauma, as Judy
has achondroplasia: she is a Little Person.
And she’s recounting the tale of her high
school experience from a motel room,
alone; hiding from her parents, her
friends, and reporters, slowly unravelling
how she came to be there – to her
agreeable neighbour Bill, and to us.
Before I Go to Sleep
S.J. Watson
Text. PB. $29.95. Ebook $14.96
A few years ago the publisher
Faber & Faber established the
Faber Academy to teach
creative writing. S.J. Watson
was one of the first graduates
and his novel was picked up
by publishers all over the
world – and that’s not
surprising. From its opening scene, Before I
Go to Sleep reveals itself as something quite
extraordinary. Its opening passage is laden
with an edgy unease and suspense.
The China Garden
RRP $24.95
by Kristina Olsson
Winner – 2010 Barbara Jefferis Award
When a newborn baby is found abandoned, the
dramatic event pierces the lives of three very
different women.
A captivating story about betrayal and its echoes
across generations.
Just a Girl
by Jane Caro
I am alive. I am awake and I am alive.
I am awake and tomorrow I shall be crowned.
Banished, imprisoned and forgotten;
determined, passionate and headstrong.
Elizabeth the First shaped the destiny of a
kingdom, all before she was 25.
RRP $19.95
The Sparrows of Edward Street
‘Five-stars’ – Bookseller+Publisher
Sydney, 1948: Middle-class Hanora, Aria and
Rosy Sparrow are facing a grim future in a
housing commission camp.
But Sparrows are resourceful, and they soon
discover that resilience and good humour might
just be their salvation.
www.uqp.com.au
find us on Facebook
Big Girl Small doesn’t shy away from serious
issues, this book is not for the faint-hearted.
It’s funny, thrilling, wise, heartbreaking and
honest. You may decide to home-school your
kids after reading it.
Fiona Hardy is from Readings Carlton
Embassytown
China Mieville
Tor. PB. Normally $33
As the leading proponent of
the re-imagined genre of
‘weird fiction’ (formerly
sci-fi), China Mieville’s latest
offering, Embassytown,
arrives hot on the heels of
the brilliant The City and the
City, for which he won the
prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award and
numerous other accolades, and Kraken,
published in Australia late last year.
Appearing last year at Melbourne Writers’
Festival and Aussiecon 4, Miéville spoke
well, and proved very well read, carrying
with him great appreciation for yesteryear
sci-fi writers and pioneers of ‘urban fantasy’
like Philip K. Dick. As with Mieville’s
earlier books, Embassytown continues his
approach in ‘changing it up’, to use Wirespeak, and the book is language-rich and
densely populated with interesting characters. The setting is the distant outpost of
Embassytown on the planet Arieka, where
the human inhabitants co-exist with the
indigenous Ariekei. This balance is maintained by the intriguing Ambassadors, engineered doppels who possess the capability
to communicate with the Ariekei through
linguistic enhancement.
Avice Benner Cho is an immerser (spacetraveller) who moves in the privileged
circles of the Ambassadors. Uniquely placed
in society, at an important ritual between
the two peoples, Avice bears witness to a
major diplomatic flap that tips the coexistence off-balance, threatening the future
of Embassytown. This is just a precis; there
is a lot more going on in this story, and
Miéville deftly negotiates the myriad of
concepts and ideas. Embassytown is fairly
light on description of location and of characters and their traits, leaving the reader, to
encounter and interpret as they progress.
This is fantastic and intriguing read, but
perhaps not the book to start with if a firsttime Mieville reader.
Julia Jackson is from Readings Carlton
The Beauty of
Humanity Movement
by Elizabeth Stead
Camilla Gibb
RRP $32.95
The Escape Your Mum’s Been Looking For.
Christine wakes in a strange bed; lying next
to her is a middle-aged man she can’t recall
seeing before. Her immediate thoughts are
that she’s been inappropriate, had one too
DeWoskin, who has previously written a
novel and a memoir of her life as a Chinese
journalist and soap opera star, has done an
amazing job at getting into the mindspace of
teenagers: the distraction of all-encompassing
love; the forced friendships; the casual peer
pressure; the realities of reputations and
gossip. Judy is sometimes a bad friend, and
occasionally lies and makes bad decisions, but
as that’s the whole point of being a teenager
(and, well, human in general), you can hardly
fault her for it. And while some of her other
schoolmates are a depressing indictment of
the current tech-obsession of Youth Today
(including myself ), there is kindness threaded
through Big Girl Small, from her adoring
average-sized family and from some more
unexpected places.
follow @UQPbooks
Atlantic. PB. $27.99
A beautifully wrought novel
that perceptively explores
the recent history of
Vietnam, from the birth of
Communism and the long
years of the American War,
to the growing Americanisation and tourist infusion of
the noughties. The action centres on a small
band of diverse characters: old man Hung,
whose pho restaurant was a gathering place
for underground intellectuals in the 1950s,
Binh, son of a poet ‘re-educated’ by the
Communist party and his son Tu, and
American-raised Maggie, who arrives at
Hung’s pho cart searching for a link to her
artist father. ‘From the ancient Hung and
his village memories, to the modern Tu and
his knock-off Nikes, this takes some beating
as a whistle-stop tour of the history of
Vietnam.’ – The Independent
Bullfighting
Roddy Doyle
Jonathan Cape. PB. $29.95
A new short-story collection
from one of Ireland’s most
loved writers, the author of
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha and
The Commitments. The men
in Bullfighting are each
concerned with loss in
different ways – of their place
in their world, of power, virility, love – of the
boom days and the Celtic Tiger. ‘The stories,
his memories, were wearing out’ the narrator
of the title story thinks, ‘and there was
nothing new replacing them.’ The stories
move from classrooms to graveyards, local
pubs to bullrings, featuring an array of men
at their working day and at rest, taking stock
and reliving past glories.
Funeral for a Dog
Thomas Pletzinger
WW Norton. PB. $19.95
This inventive and challenging novel was a smash hit
when first published in
Germany, and it’s now
making waves in the US too,
drawing comparisons to
Murakami and Etgar Keret.
Journalist Daniel Mandelkern is plunged into a web of mystery after
an interview with a reclusive children’s
author, who lives alone with his threelegged dog. Rich with anthropological and
literary allusion, set between Europe, Brazil
and New York, this book tells the parallel
stories of two writers struggling with the
burden of the past and the uncertainties of
the future.
Child Wonder
Roy Jacobsen
Maclehose. PB. $32.99
Norwegian writer Roy
Jacobsen’s last novel, BurntOut Town of Miracles, was a
Readings favourite, and was
shortlisted for the IMPAC
Award. His latest novel is set
in the working-class Oslo of
his childhood, in the days
before the discovery of oil and the founding
of the social-democratic welfare state. It’s
1961, and Finn lives with his mother in a
nondescript apartment block, when one day
a mysterious half-sister arrives and turns his
life upside-down over one long summer. A
poignant yet unsentimental coming-of-age
story that shines with human detail.
I’ll Never Get Out
of this World Alive
Steve Earle
Houghton Mifflin. HB. $36.95
This ambitious debut novel
from acclaimed musician
Steve Earle (also a semiregular on The Wire) draws
on his experience and
interests, without ever
treading the territory of
memoir-as-novel. San
Antonio morphine addict Doc has lost his
licence, his home and any reason to live
beyond his daily fix. Ten years earlier, he
was the last to see his fishing buddy, country
music star Hank Williams, alive – now he is
both haunted and guarded by his former
companion. Doc finds unlikely salvation
from teenage Mexican immigrant Graciela,
who sticks around after he performs an
illegal abortion on her, and seems possessed
of a miraculous healing power.
Toploader
Ed O’Loughlin
Quercus. PB. $27.95
This razor-sharp satire on the
absurdity of war, from a
former Middle East correspondent for the Age and
Sydney Morning Herald,
follows his debut novel, Not
Untrue and Not Unkind,
longlisted for the Man
Booker. Agent Cobra has been spying inside
the Iraqi Embargoed Zone – and now his
payment is due, all his spymaster can offer is
the mysterious Toploader device, which he
quickly offloads. When senior military
personnel learn the device is missing, a
frantic operation is launched to retrieve it,
involving a plucky teenage orphan, a reporter
with a penchant for the wrong end of the
stick, and a hapless drone pilot.
The Picture of
Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde
Bellknapp. HB. $49.95
The Picture of Dorian Gray
heralded the end of repressive
Victorianism – but the
version Oscar Wilde handed
to his publisher was far more
daring than the version we
know. His editor excised
material – especially homosexual content – that he thought would
offend his readers’ sensibilities. This deluxe,
extensively illustrated, annotated edition
finally presents the uncensored manuscript
for the first time.
The Girl Who Would
Speak for the Dead
Paul Elwork
Pier 9. PB. $29.99. Ebook $14.99
The Girl Who Would Speak for
the Dead is a gothic mystery
set in the quiet summer of
1925. It tells the story of
13-year-old twins Emily and
Michael Ward, who live in a
rambling house on the family
estate by the banks of a river.
Privileged, precocious and mostly bored,
Emily discovers a secret – she can manipulate
the bones in her ankle to produce a cracking
sound at will, a sound that appears as if from
nowhere and reverberates around the stillness
of the air. One night Emily uses her talents to
successfully scare her brooding brother,
pretending to be a ghost contacting him
from the other side. The twins then hatch a
plan to share the ‘spirit knockings’ with the
neighbourhood children and before long, the
news has spread to the adults and Emily is
more than happy to play along. But it’s a
game that quickly gets out of hand – the
adults are still reeling from World War I, and
the game begins to unearth family secrets and
the real ghosts in their family.
While I found the pace of this novel a little
slow to begin with, I was drawn in by the
neatly drawn teenage protagonist, and the
subtle sense of foreboding that builds from
page one. The novel blossoms slowly but
surely; Elwork’s language is understated and
his characters mysterious yet confronting.
For those looking for a ghost story with more
depth, for fans of Chekhov or Hitchcock, and
readers of historical fiction, there is much to
enjoy in this intriguing and impressive debut.
Steph Little is a freelance reviewer
Australian Poetry
The Taste of
River Water
Cate Kennedy
Scribe. PB. $24.95. Ebook $14.95
In an introduction to
American poet Robert Hass’s
poetry, Stanley Kunitz
likened the effect of a Hass
poem to stepping into water
from air that is almost the
same temperature, hardly
noticing one is at the will of
the sea, suddenly. Cate Kennedy – also
regarded for her novel The World Beneath, and
her short fiction – is a different poet to Hass,
less an experimentalist or stylist, but she relies
on getting the reader comfortable before
providing something like this change in the
atmosphere by the time the poem is out. A
twist might be the appropriate word to
describe this affect, too, as the poems in The
Taste of River Water, Kennedy’s new and
selected poems, favour narrative.
In the longer poem ‘Last Man Standing’
about a wounded and dying war veteran,
she – with her novelist’s eye – pieces together
a past, using photographs and his scribbled
death bed messages. Poetry enters when she
shifts things, quickly and with line breaks, for
the benefit of surprise: ‘After they'd taken out
part of his jaw and cheekbone/he shuffled,
face caved and disfigured, into the backyard,/
thinking to move the sprinklers.’ In a direct
and careful poem about the complicated feelings of loss surrounding a still birth, Kennedy
turns suddenly and pithily at the end of the
poem: ‘Soon I will rise/pen and paper/envelopes/spade/the unbearable sight/of turned
earth.’ In many poems the act of creation –
of writing – is never far from these everyday
observations, offering deeper layers.
The Taste of River Water contains more
densely lyrical poems, too, like the sensual,
unpunctuated ‘How to Eat Guava’: ‘that
curved yellow moon surface/eat it’. Many
of the poems, though, consider moments of
epiphany that pierce or – for a more appropriate verb – seep through to the daily and
are passed emotively over, in this process, to
a sensitive reader.
Luke Beesley’s latest poetry collection is Lemon
Shark (Paper Tiger, PB, $20.95). He runs a
series of poetry nights for Readings.
A.C. GRAYLING’S
GROUND-BREAKING
SECULAR BIBLE
Drawing on 2500 years of writing
and philosophy, here is the collective
secular wisdom of the world,
distilled into chapters and verses
to replicate the form of the Bible.
A.C. Grayling’s most ambitious work
to date, The Good Book examines
all that it means to be human.
OUT NOW
(Vintage ) Classic
of the Month
Seven Pillars
of Wisdom
T.E. Lawrence
Vintage. PB. $12.95
The last few nights I have
been dreaming of the
desert. Maybe because of
Melbourne’s underwhelming summer (or
maybe because I haven’t
had a holiday in a while),
my nights have been filled
with baking heat and blue sky and a flat
expanse of sand. I don’t often read
autobiographies, but chose Seven Pillars of
Wisdom from the new Vintage Classics
range because I thought it would suit my
mood. It did – but this remarkable book is
so much more than mere historical
travelogue.
T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence
of Arabia, spent much of World War I as
a British soldier working with rebel forces
during the Arab revolt against Turkey. The
first 60-or-so pages are background to the
geo-political and tribal history of ‘Arabia’
and detail Lawrence’s difficulties with British Command: skip these if it slows you
down. The action really begins on page
65 and it rockets along from here. This
is a boys-own adventure filled with train
sabotage, the basics of insurgency, camelback warfare and the constant battle for
water and food in one of the planet’s most
inhospitable places. Seven Pillars was written from Lawrence’s
diaries and it has that sense of immediacy.
Above all else, Lawrence was a wonderful writer. Some of his imagery will never
leave me, like the army of Faisal I on
the march with ‘three banners of faded
crimson silk with gilt spikes, behind
them the drummers playing a march,
and behind them again the wild mass of
twelve hundred bouncing camels of the
bodyguard ... the men in every variety of
coloured clothes and the camels nearly
as brilliant in their trappings.’ Through
Lawrence’s eyes we see an intimate portrait
of Bedouin life, the day-to-day as well as
the tribes at war. It’s a moving encounter
with a way of life lost forever.
The book also gives us a fascinating
insight into Lawrence himself. We can
only wonder what the Arabs thought of
this soldier, part poet and part adventurer,
gifted (or cursed) with the kind of courage
that comes from a lack of reverence for his
own life. Lawrence was plagued by moral
doubts about his role in promising the
Arabs self-government for their assistance
against Turkey, despite knowing ‘that
if we won the war the promises to the
Arabs were dead paper’. His depression
and bitterness grows over the course of
the book and even his language changes:
the Arabs become ‘we’ and the British, a
people apart from himself.
As an insight into the historical basis for
guerrilla war in the Middle East, this book
is unparalleled. This Vintage edition also
has a terrific introduction by Middle East
correspondent Robert Fisk, who notes
that Seven Pillars is currently on the ‘reading list of almost every senior US officer in
Iraq’. But 20/20 hindsight can only help
so much. Fisk helpfully points out that it
might have been better had the Americans
‘read Lawrence before they invaded’. Toni Jordan is the bestselling author of
Addition (Text, PB, $23.95) and Fall Girl
(Text, PB, $32.95). Thanks to Random
House, we have a library of 60 marvellous
Vintage Classics to give away to one lucky
customer this month. See page 2 for
entry form and details.
N
A
E
F
I
AL
D
Y
C
A
G
LE
‘A splendidly
energetic work,
broad and deep.
It never fails
in empathy,
yet it crackles
with acute
and unsparing
insights.’
helen garner
Manning Clark was a complex,
demanding and brilliant
man. An Eye For Eternity,
Mark McKenna’s compelling
biography of this giant of
Australia’s cultural landscape,
is informed by his reading of
Clark’s extensive private letters,
journals and diaries—many
that have never been read
before.
An Eye For Eternity paints
a sweeping portrait of the
man who gave Australians the
signature account of their own
history.
AVAILABLE MAY
u
p.com.a
u
www.m
New Crime Dead Write with Fiona Hardy
Genre books have a sneaky little cheat where
the writing doesn’t necessarily have to be of
award-winning quality; sometimes, the thrill
of the story is so engaging it could rope you
in even if the words themselves were written
in crayon by a five-year-old who is only halfway through learning the alphabet. There is
no danger of this happening in this month’s
batch of books: all are exciting, all are
action-packed, and all are perfectly crafted.
Here’s to some great writers!
his precious hair doctor has gone missing.
He’s trying to escape the trauma of his
military past, and keep his friends and sanity
intact. While there are some honestly sad
moments, and gripping action-packed scenes
that kept me riveted to the page (even batting
people away with the book if they tried to
talk to me), it’s really a very funny book,
unabashedly entertaining, and just on the
right side of ridiculous.
Fiona Hardy is from Readings Carlton
Merete Lyngard. Missing for five years, her
case is re-opened with the unexpected
promotion of Homicide Detective Carl
Mørck, who has lost his zing after a
seemingly benign case turned deadly for
two of his colleagues. While Mørck is struggling to adjust back to life after the injury
he sustained, and the weight of guilt on
him, the case everyone assumes is pointless
could very well be the one that brings him
back from the brink. FH
When he helps a woman in a bar after her
abusive boyfriend takes a swing at her, all
seems fine and heroic until he wakes up the
next morning to find he’s been duped, and
robbed – but when the boyfriend turns up
dead and the girl hunted, it’s even more
serious than he thought. Over in Baghdad,
journo Luca Terracini is tracing a spate of
bank robberies, ending up in London to
team up with Ruiz and figure out what the
hell is going on. FH
Crime Book of
the Month
Falling Glass
Dark Anatomy
The Hypnotist
Serpent’s Tail. PB. $29.99
Channelling one of the great crime authors,
Raymond Chandler, is Adrian McKinty with
his newest title. Michael Forsythe, the star
of his previous novels, is now one of the side
characters, leaving the wonderfully named
Killian to take the lead. As a strict enforcer of
Irish law for those willing to pay him, Killian
is on the wrong side of his savings account
when the perfect job comes up, offering
him half a million to find the ex-wife and
daughters of airline boss Richard Coulter.
It’s not so easy, of course, and Killian must
leave Northern Ireland and traverse the globe
to find them, without losing the deadpan
humour that noir does so beautifully. FH
Macmillan. PB. $32.99
Back in 1740, forensic crime
investigation was a twinkle
behind David Caruso’s CSI:
Miami sunglasses. Coroner
Titus Cragg is summoned to
the body of the local squire’s
wife, in the woods near her
home of Garlick Hall, her
throat cut. Using somewhat unexpected
methods for the time, Cragg enlists the
help of local doctor Luke Fidelis, and has to
cut through the irrational fear those around
him have of any attempt at criminal investigation. FH
Mercy
Michael Robotham
Lars Kepler is the new
Swedish sensation, not least
because it’s the pseudonym
for writers and lovers
Alexander Ahndoril and
Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril,
who have hit on the right
chemistry in this beautifully
written and engaging book. When a family
is murdered over two locations in Stockholm, clues are almost nonexistent, but
there is a surviving family member: 15-year
old Josef Ek, so badly injured that he is
barely alive. After Detective Inspector
Joona Linna discovers there is another
member of the family who wasn’t home
that day and may still be alive, the only way
to get through to Josef is through Erik
Maria Bark, a hypnotist retired in disgrace.
As he unwillingly takes this case, he realises
there is much more horror than even the
crime scene could prepare them for. FH
Adrian McKinty
Plugged
Eoin Colfer
Headline. PB. $29.99
Some voices in crime fiction
are just so completely
amicable that picking up the
book every night is like
calling an old friend ... if your
friend was constantly being
chased by criminals and
getting coshed over the head
with things, instead of calling to tell you
about getting a new roof installed or how
they made a great pie that was a bit burnt.
And Colfer, mostly known as the author of
the spectacular Artemis Fowl series for kids
and the author taking the helm of the newest
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, has created a
great voice in Irish-American Daniel McEvoy,
affable to a fault, hiding his new hairplugs
under a hat, wishing fervently for a date with
one of the waitresses at the club he bounces
for, and about to find himself in the centre of
an alarming amount of drama, not least that
Jussi Adler-Olsen
Michael Joseph. PB. $29.95
We’ve all joked at some point
about getting rid of a
politician who bothers us,
but when it actually happens,
it will be a hard-hearted
reader who doesn’t feel
anxious for Danish politician
Robin Blake
The Wreckage
Sphere. PB. Normally $33
While I’d always encourage
everyone to help their fellow
humans in a crisis, it doesn’t
work out so well for ex-cop
Vincent Ruiz, who’s back in
local author Michael
Robotham’s newest release.
Lars Kepler
GREAT FICTION FROM TOP
AUSTRALIAN AUTHORS
SIDESHOW*
Lindsay Tanner
A story about what happens when
an obsession takes over and there
is no one to hold you back.
A revealing look inside who we
really are and the tenuous links
that build a life.
‘Lindsay Tanner does us all a service
… the relationship between politicians
and the media degrades public life and
diminishes our future.’ Malcolm Fraser
DEEP FUTURE*
Curt Stager
INDIGNEZ-VOUS!*
Stéphane Hessel
Like the bestselling
The World Without
Us, this book will
change the way we
think about what
we’re doing to our
planet.
Stéphane Hessel,
Resistance fighter
and concentrationcamp survivor, tells
the young of today
that their lives and
liberties are worth
fighting for.
THE LONGEVITY
PROJECT*
Howard S. Friedman
& Leslie R. Martin
This fascinating,
surprising book uses
one of the most
extensive studies in
psychology to explore
the question of who
lives longest, and why.
www.scribepublications.com.au
THE TASTE OF
RIVER WATER*
Cate Kennedy
Disarming, warm,
and always
accessible, Cate
Kennedy’s poems
make ordinary
experiences glow.
*Also available as eBooks
Keep in touch with great book news www.randomhouse.com.au
Caleb’s Crossing
Watercolours
BY GERALDINE
BY ADRIENNE
BROOKS
9780732289225
RRP $32.99
A richly imagined new
novel from Pulitzer
Prize winner
Geraldine Brooks.
FERREIRA
9780732292164
RRP $29.99
A poignant debut novel
with a mystery at its heart, an unexpected
love story and a surprising twist.
Most of all, it celebrates the clarity and
colour a child’s-eye view brings
to the adult world.
New Non-Fiction
Australian Studies
Sideshow
Lindsay Tanner
When Lindsay Tanner
resigned in 2010 as the ALP’s
federal minister for finance
and member for Melbourne,
having had an 18-year career
as an MP, he notably
managed to retire with his
reputation for integrity
intact. In Sideshow, he lays bare the
relentless decline of political reporting and
political behaviour that occurred during his
career. Part memoir, part analysis, and part
critique, Sideshow is a unique book that
tackles the rot which has set in at the heart
of Australian public life.
Eye for Eternity: The
Life of Manning Clark
Mark McKenna
MUP. HB. Normally $55
This major biography of
Australia’s most famous and
controversial historian, by
award winning historian
Mark McKenna, has been
seven years in the making.
It paints a portrait of a
complex man: his friendships
with Patrick White and Sidney Nolan; his
compromised marriage, riven by affairs; his
attachment to narrative ahead of facts; and
a public life marked by deeply held grudges
and over-sensitivity to slights and criticism.
McKenna’s compelling biography of this
giant of Australia's cultural landscape is
informed by his reading of Clark’s extensive
private letters, journals and diaries – many
of them never before read.
Making Trouble:
Essays Against the
New Australian
Complacency
Robert Manne
Black Inc. PB. $34.95. Ebook $14.96
Robert Manne, one of
Australia’s leading public
intellectuals, takes the pulse
of our nation – and reflects
on a range of different topics
– in this major new essay
collection. He takes aim at
the ‘new Australian complacency’, looks at our recent political leaders,
from Howard to Rudd to Gillard, delivers an
incisive analysis of the asylum seeker issue,
and exchanges letters with Tony Abbott.
There are also essays on Wilfred Burchett,
Primo Levi and W.E.H. Stanner.
Biography
Good Living Street:
The Fortunes of my
Viennese Family
Tim Bonyhady
A&U. PB. $35
High society Vienna meets
harbourside Sydney in this
haunting, unconventional
memoir of one migrant
family’s path to Australia.
Cultural historian Tim
Bonyhady’s great grandparents were leading patrons of
the arts in turn of the century Vienna – Gustav Kilmt painted his great-grandmother’s
portrait. Here, he follows the lives of three
generations of the women in his family,
through fraught relationships and business
highs and lows. Then, in the late 1930s,
everything changed for Jewish families like
his, and in 1938 his family fled their
luxurious life for a small Sydney flat, taking
with them an impressive collection of art and
design. This engrossing and exceptionally
written book has already garnered high praise
from David Marr (‘wonderful’) and Patrick
McCaughey (‘enthralling’). Set to be one of
the local memoirs of the year.
Bossypants
Tina Fey
Hachette. PB. $33
It’s obvious just from a glance
at the cover (in which Fey’s
made-up face and blowwaved hair are teamed with
hairy man-hands) that
Bossypants is not your average
celebrity memoir. But then,
Tina Fey is not your average
celebrity either. For one thing, she’s as well
known for her writing as her performing
(as well as being the creator and star of 30
Rock, she was head writer for Saturday Night
Live and wrote the screenplay for Mean Girls),
which promises an above-average reading
experience.
In what is more a linked series of personal
essays than a traditional narrative memoir,
Fey takes the reader on a tour of her childhood, her early days as a performer on the
Chicago improv scene, landing her dream job
as an SNL writer, conceiving and launching
30 Rock and the weird and wonderful time
she spent impersonating Sarah Palin during
the last US election. She also offers carefully
edited glimpses into her personal life – her
relationship with her parents, husband and
child – while cannily managing not to reveal
too much about her loved ones.
This is a terrifically entertaining book that
unsurprisingly reads much like a conversation
with her 30 Rock alter-ego Liz Lemon.
Unflattering childhood pictures combine with
embarrassing stories about her early self and
tongue-in-cheek self-reflection (her teenage
gay friends liked her because, ‘I was so funny
and so mean and mature for my age!’). Her
stories about working in a male-dominated
comedy world (‘only in comedy, by the way,
does an obedient white girl from the suburbs
count as diversity’) and the challenges and
absurdities of her busy personal life (‘when
Oprah Winfrey is suggesting you may have
overextended yourself, you need to examine
your fucking life’) are, Lemon-like, spiked
with wit and insight. If you like smart, funny
women, you’ll love Bossypants.
Jo Case is editor of Readings Monthly
The Fry Chronicles
Stephen Fry
Penguin. PB. $24.95
Stephen Fry is one of those super-accomplished people who not only has an enormous brain and lashings of talent, but is
irresistibly likeable. So, no wonder The Fry
Chronicles (the follow-up to Moab is my
Washpot, his memoir of his early years) was a
smash hit in hardback. If you missed it, here’s
your chance to catch up with everyone’s
favourite brilliant eccentric.
Beautiful Thing
Sonia Faleiro
Black Inc. PB. $29.95. Ebook $13.56
Sonia Faleiro’s background as
both a novelist and a journalist come together in this
remarkable story about
19-year-old ‘Leela’, who lives
and works in a Bombay
suburb with a notorious
dance bar scene. Faleiro spent
five years getting to know Leela and many
other characters in this world. As a result, this
is a wonderfully detailed account; the lyrical
simplicity of the prose reveals an accomplished novelist. The dialogue is often
intertwined with Hindi slang, which brilliantly conveys the individual personalities of
those she meets. It also had the interesting
(not unwelcome) effect of positioning me as
an outsider looking in, eavesdropping on a
world that I could hardly begin to comprehend. I continued to be surprised by the
dancers’ stories of violence, self-harm and
rape. Every bar dancer Leela knows has either
been sold by a blood relative or raped by one.
Leela herself ran away from her village at age
13 after her father had sold her to the local
police for sex.
Bombay itself has a strong presence; Faleiro
describes the city as an ‘open wound’ and
vividly evokes sound, smell and colour. Especially memorable is a trip she takes with Leela
and her friends to Haji Malang, a shrine that
has particular spiritual importance to Bombay’s hijars (men who dress as women). The
steep climb to reach the shrine, the description of other pilgrims and the wild partying
afterwards, are unforgettable. I kept expecting
broad conclusions about gender and poverty,
but Faleiro avoids this. Her total immersion
in this world doesn’t lead to simplistic judgment; the individuals speak for themselves.
The reader is ultimately left to their own devices, a refreshing quality in this type of study.
Beautiful Thing is complex, confusing, funny
and horrific – and often all of these together
within the space of one page.
Kara Nicholson is from Readings Carlton
Great new titles
from Hachette
PAST THE SHALLOWS
Favel Parrett
Hauntingly beautiful and told with an
elegant simplicity, this is the story of
two brothers growing up in a fractured
family on the wild Tasmanian coast. The
consequences of their parents’ choices
shape their lives and ultimately bring
tragedy to them all.
My Heart Wanders
Pia Jane Bijkerk
Murdoch. HB. Normally $59.95
Eat, Pray Love in Paris and
Amsterdam? Like Elizabeth
Gilbert, Pia Jane Bijkerk
decided to leave her comfortable home (in Sydney) and
follow her heart on a personal
journey of discovery. Her
instincts led her to a home in
Paris, then another on a houseboat in
Amsterdam. This tender, reflective memoir is
sumptuously illustrated, presented in a lavish
hardback edition. It’s just perfect for Mother’s
Day, or for any woman who’d relish armchair
travel through a journey of letting go – and
embracing what you find along the way.
No Regrets:
A Biography
of Edith Piaf
Carolyn Burke
Bloomsbury. PB. $32.99
A marvellous, definitive new
biography of one of the most
beloved and romantic figures
of the twentieth century.
From her youth singing in
the streets to the glamour of
Paris music-halls; her lasting
friendships with figures like
Maurice Chevalier, Jean Cocteau and
Marlene Dietrich; her involvement in the
World War II Resistance, and her many
illnesses, affairs and addictions – this is the
story of a life richly lived, and a great talent
passionately employed.
Current Affairs
Indignez-Vous
Stephane Hessel
Scribe. PB. $9.95
This extraordinary polemic
has sold over a million copies
in France, and is a bestseller
across Europe. Former
resistance fighter and
concentration camp survivor
Stephane Hessel, now 93
years old, passionately argues
we must take back human rights that have
steadily been lost over the last sixty years.
THE BUTTERFLY CABINET
Bernie McGill
Inspired by the true story of the tragic
death of a daughter from an aristocratic
Irish family at the end of the nineteenth
century, The Butterfly Cabinet explores
motherhood, love, guilt, class and religion.
THE WRECKAGE
Michael Robotham
Set in the turbulent aftermath of the
Global Financial Crisis, The Wreckage
pits Vincent Ruiz against powerful agents
who will stop at nothing to keep their
secrets buried...
THE BOOK OF BOOKS
Melvyn Bragg
The King James Bible is both the standard
scriptural text and, for centuries, the
bestselling book in the English-speaking
world. Melvyn Bragg reveals the political,
linguistic, and religious influences the
Bible has had throughout the centuries.
Origins of
Political Order
Francis Fukuyama
ISBN 9781742582900 $34.95
ISBN 9781742582757 $29.95
Farrar Strauss Giroux. HB. $48.95
Francis Fukuyama is famous
for The End of History
(published prior to September 11) in which he claimed
the collapse of the Soviet
Union ushered in the
unquestioned triumph of
liberal democracy as the best
basis for government. In this major new
work – already being lauded worldwide for
its scope and ambition – he goes back to our
political beginnings, with a sweeping
account of how today’s basic political
institutions developed. The first of a major
two-volume work, it begins with the politics
of our primate ancestors and follows the
story through the emergence of tribal
societies, the growth of the first modern state
in China, the beginning of the rule of law in
India and the Middle East, and the development of political accountability in Europe
up until the eve of the French Revolution.
Wikileaks and the
Age of Transparency
Micah Sifry
Scribe PB. $22.95. Ebook $13.99
Political analyst and writer
Micah Sifry argues that
WikiLeaks is a symptom of a
generational and philosophical struggle between older,
closed systems, and the new,
open culture of the internet.
Despite the arrest of Julian
Assange, secret documents continue to be
published around the world, and citizens are
demanding greater accountability from those
who wield power. As Sifry shows, this is
part of a larger movement for greater
governmental and corporate transparency.
Power and Terror
Noam Chomsky
New from
Pluto. PB. $24.95
Noam Chomsky looks at the last ten years
of US foreign policy – characterised by war,
torture and rendition. He places these developments in the context of America’s long
history of aggression and imperialism, and
argues that the US is responsible for much
of the terror it claims to be fighting. Includes
talks, Q&A sessions and unpublished essays.
History
Captain Cook:
Master of the Seas
Frank McLynn
The ten years of US foreign policy since 9/11
have been characterised by war, torture and
rendition. In Power and Terror, Noam Chomsky
places these developments in the context of
America’s long history of aggression
and imperialism.
$24.95 Pb, ISBN 9780745331379
Pluto
Yale UP. HB. $45
This biography seeks to
rescue Cook from his recent
portrayal as a villain of
colonial exploitation.
Focusing instead on Cook’s
nautical skills, courage and
talent, Frank McLynn
recreates the voyages that
took the famous captain from his native
England to the outer reaches of the Pacific
Ocean. Cook’s life was ultimately one of
struggle as well as success – struggle with
himself, with institutions, with the environment, and with the desire to be remembered.
Environment
Feeling the Heat
Jo Chandler
Dreams imagines replacing Western Civilization
with epistemologies stemming from indigenous
cultures and the knowledge embedded in our
own dreams.
$39.95 Pb, ISBN 9781583229309
Seven Stories Press
MUP. PB. $36.99
Walkley Award-winning Age
journalist Jo Chandler puts a
human face on the climate
change phenomenon in this
immensely readable book – a
narrative non-fiction in the
vein of Susan Orlean’s The
Orchid Thief. In an attempt to truly understand climate change, Chandler travels to
climate science frontiers Antarctica, the Great
Barrier Reef, the Wimmera and North
Queensland’s tropical rainforests, meeting
scientists and interrogating the science. As she
pieces together the climate puzzle, Chandler
meets a cast of passionate and eccentric
characters – and even learns a thing or two
about herself.
Deep Future: The Next
100,000 Years of Life
on Earth
Curt Stager
This major new book has
already been compared to the
magisterial, engrossing (and
yes, frightening) scientific
narratives of Jared Diamond.
Paleoclimatologist Curt
Stager looks far into the
future, drawing on our
planet’s geological history and the effects of
our current environmental actions to predict
the world that lies ahead. If we continue to
pollute the planet, our descendants may see
an ice-free Arctic, miles of submerged coasts,
or an acidified ocean. But there is another
alternative, if we change our ways in time.
Merchants of Doubt
Naomi Oreskes & Erik Conway
Bloomsbury. PB. $24.95
Over the past four decades, a
loose-knit group of scientists
and scientific advisers (with
links to politics and industry)
have run effective campaigns
to mislead the public and
deny well-established
scientific information. Some
of the same individuals who claim the
science of global warming is ‘not settled’ also
denied studies linking smoking to lung
cancer, coal smoke to acid rain, and CFCs to
the ozone hole.
Psychology
Flourish
Martin Seligman
Heinemann. PB. Normally $32.95
The author of the international bestseller Authentic
Happiness (and founder of the
Positive Psychology Movement) offers a new theory on
what makes us flourish and
how we can truly get the most
out of life. Flourish refines
what Positive Psychology is all about, with
examples of the theory in action, including
schools that add resilience to their curriculum
(with a case study of Victoria’s Geelong
Grammar), and evidence on how positive
physical health can turn medicine on its head.
Born for Love: Why
Empathy is Essential
and Endangered
Bruce Perry & Maia Szalavitz
HarperCollins. PB. $21.95
This fascinating book blends
science and real-life stories
to show how empathy works
and why it’s important. It
examines threats to the
development of empathy in
the contemporary world
(including recent changes to
technology, child-rearing practices and
lifestyles) – and explores how these threats
might be tackled. Practicing child psychiatrist Bruce Perry and renowned science
writer Maia Szalavitz present a powerful
and engaging case for empathy’s ongoing
importance to human evolution, and its
significance for children and our society.
Philosophy
The Good Book:
A Secular Bible
A.C. Grayling
Bloomsbury. PB. Normally $49.99
Popular philosopher A.C.
Grayling believes that
philosophy should be useful
– and to that end, he’s
created a secular bible for our
increasingly secular age.
Designed to be read as
narrative and dipped into for
inspiration or comfort, it draws on 2500
years of contemplative non-religious writing
on all it means to be human, from the
origins of the universe to matters of courtesy
and kindness. This erudite and accessible
book of wisdom fills a real gap, offering
guidance and meaning without religion.
Hope
Stan Van Hooft
Acumen. PB. $24.95
A fascinating and thought-provoking investigation into a fundamental human quality:
hope. For Aristotle, being hopeful was part
of a well-lived life, a virtue. For Aquinas, it
was a fundamentally theological virtue and
for Kant, a basic moral motivation. Drawing on everyday examples – as well as more
detailed discussion of hope in the arenas of
medicine, politics, and religion – Stan van
Hooft shows how hopefulness is not the
same as hope and offers a convincing and
powerful defence of the need for realism.
Cultural Studies
Smashed:
the many meanings
of intoxication
and drunkeness
Peter Kelly
Monash University Press. PB. $34.95
Everyone knows what intoxication and
drunkenness are, how to define and measure
them and what their consequences are. At
least, that’s how these words are used by the
media, politicians and policy makers and by
various experts. A variety of concerns about
young people, individual and public health,
road safety, sexual assault and violence are
connected to these taken-for-granted understandings. Smashed! presents an overview of
these concerns.
Food & Wine
A Cook’s Guide
Donna Hay
Just in time for Mother’s Day, here comes
another essential everyday cookbook from
Australia’s favourite kitchen whiz, Donna
Hay. From perfect pav to crispy crackling
to chocolate cake, this beautifully photographed, practically packaged book is packed
with classic recipes and handy cooking techniques. This one’s not just for show – it’ll be
dog-eared with use in no time.
Livwise
Olivia Newton-John
Murdoch. HB. $39.99
This gorgeous book introduces ways of eating and
living that lead to good
health and happiness – with
wholesome, tasty recipes
from Olivia’s own kitchen,
and others from friends and
chefs at her Australian health
retreat, Gaia. Includes salads, snacks, mains
and guilt-free desserts. Let’s get physical,
with one of Australia’s favourite stars.
Food & Wine
Art & Design
This morning I am wedged between my
laptop on the kitchen table and a crowded
stove-top teetering with simmering pots of
poached quince, quince chutney, Ottoman
quince preserve and quince-infused vinegar.
Quince may be the hardest (on your hands)
of all fruit to preserve, but their heady
perfume and ruby rose colour make them
my absolute favourite. The arrival of quince
signals the beginning of the colder months –
a perfect time to alternate your recipes.
Scripts: Elegant
Lettering From
Design’s Golden Age
By Justine Douglas, manager
Readings Port Melbourne
Vegetables from an
Italian Garden: Season
by Season Recipes
Silver Spoon Kitchen
Phaidon. HB. $49.95
This is the perfect volume to
inspire seasonal eating and
augment your repertoire of
recipes for unfairly maligned
vegetables like turnips and
celeriac. Exquisitely designed
by Phaidon, each chapter
contains a selection of a
dozen or so vegetables with growing
information and recipes. The autumnal
selection includes celery, chestnut, pumpkin,
beetroot and turnips. The recipes are for the
most part traditional Italian sides such as
baby carrots in herb sauce and scorzonera with
anchovies, but also include more substantial
supper dishes like pumpkin gnocchi with
orange butter. An ideal reference if you grow
your own vegetables and are looking for
inspiration for surfeit crops, or if you shop at
the market and buy produce in season.
Soup! Vava Berry
Pavilion. HB. $39.99
Autumn is also, traditionally
speaking, the right time of
year to start making soup. I
pay no heed to this particular
tradition and make soup all
year round, so am constantly
searching for interesting soup
recipes. Vava Berry has
collected an extraordinary selection in this
volume. There are instant soups that can be
rustled up from the pantry like a tomato,
coconut and peanut soup that is made from
bottled passata, coconut milk and peanut
butter (surprisingly delicious) as well as more
glamorous suggestions, such as a black beluga
lentil soup with caper and dill sour cream. The
most intriguing recipes include extras like
chunky tomato soup with baked polenta
dumplings and borscht with cabbage pirojkis
and will undoubtedly make one reconsider
the humble bowl of soup.
Gran’s Family Table
Natalie Oldfield
Harper Collins. HB. $49.95
There is no escaping the food
of one’s childhood – and
while some people might
have heart palpitations at the
mere suggestion of rice
pudding, I am somewhat
partial to the ‘supper
savouries’ and ‘novelty cakes’
of my New Zealand upbringing. So, it would
seem, is Natalie Oldfield, who has created a
successful business inspired by her Gran’s
cooking. There is something deeply restorative about these simple, economical recipes
for sardines on toast and cauliflower cheese and
this cookbook also contains some excellent
family dishes like roast leek and lemon chicken
thighs and kumara with ginger, orange and
chives. This is the second collection of recipes
inspired by Natalie’s grandmother, Dulcie
May Booker. The first, Gran’s Kitchen, has the
best apple cake recipe I have ever tried and I
feel certain the ‘Pudding’ chapter in Gran’s
Family Table will contain many more gems.
By Margaret Snowdon, art & design buyer,
Readings Carlton
Written with real imaginative air, heart and
humour, The Registrar's Manual for Detecting
Forced Marriages will prove impossible to forget.
Stephen Heller & Louise Fili
Thames & Hudson. HB. $65
This is the first compilation
of popular, rare and forgotten scripts from Britain,
Italy, France, Germany and
the USA, from the nineteenth to the mid-twentieth
century. Filled with examples from a broad spectrum
of sources – advertising, street signs,
invitations, type-specimen books, personal
letters – this collection from esteemed art
director Steven Heller is a delightful trove
of long-overlooked material.
Patricia Piccinini:
Once Upon A Time
Jane Messenger
AGSA. HB. $75
A catalogue from the
exhibition at the Art Gallery
of South Australia. Drawn
primarily from private
collections, and including an
exciting new work seen for
the first time, the exhibition
spans the artist’s 15-year
oeuvre to date. This is sure to be a fascinating publication on an artist whose unique
hybrid vision of humanity, machines and
mutation has retained a sustained combination of the familiar and an eerily possible
imperfect future.
Out of Australia:
Prints and Drawings
from Sidney Nolan to
Rover Thomas
Stephen Coppel
BMP. PB. $59.95
This ground-breaking book
follows the rise of a distinctive school of Australian art
that first emerged in the
1940s. Beginning with the
artists of the Angry Penguins
movement, Arthur Boyd,
Albert Tucker, Joy Hester
and Sidney Nolan, whose work exhibited a
new strain of surrealism and expressionism,
the book continues with the rich variety of
1970s work by Jan Seberg, Robert Jacks
and George Baldessin, moving through to
contemporary artists such as Rover Thomas
and Judy Watson. Includes a substantial
essay outlining the major developments in
Australian art since the 1940s, the reception of Australian art in Britain and the
recent rise of Aboriginal printmaking and
features 127 works by 61 artists.
How Aborigines
invented the idea
of contemporary art
Ian McLean
(editor & contributor)
Power Institute of Fine Art
This is the first anthology to
chronicle the global critical
reception of Aboriginal art
since the early 1980s, when
the art world began to
understand it as contemporary art. Featuring 96
authors, it conveys a
diversity of thinking and approaches. The
anthology argues for a re-evaluation of
Aboriginal art’s critical intervention into
contemporary art since its seduction of the
art world a quarter-century ago.
BOOKS THAT CHANGE YOUR MIND.
For the first time in history,
Australia will be uncomfortably
close to the designs and
demarches of competing great
powers. In the years ahead,
we will no longer be too small
to make a difference. In his
book, Michael Wesley of The
Lowy Institute points to the
key economic and political
issues that we need to be
considering right now, as a
western country geographically
and economically tied to
Asia, and urgently calls for a
renewed public engagement
and debate.
‘This book is shock therapy.
It strikes at Australia’s dull
complacency before the
challenges from a bigger,
more dynamic Asia.’
– Paul Kelly
www.unswpress.com.au
Kids’ Books
Book of the Month
Our Australian Girl Series two
Penguin. PB. $14.95 each
A Friend for Grace
Sofie Laguna
Poppy at Summerhill
Gabrielle Wang
Rose on Wheels
Sherryl Clark
Letty And The
Stranger’s Lace
Alison Lloyd
What an exciting publishing
endeavour! The first Our
Australian Girl books were
published in February 2011
and we were introduced to
Grace, Letty, Poppy and
Rose, who faced challenging
situations in the 1800s to
1900. Now in the second set of books we
follow Grace, the convict girl, as she and her
new friend Hannah make the scary ocean
crossing from England to Australia; Letty,
the accidental stowaway, as she and her older
sister face a precarious existence in a new
land; Poppy’s brave quest to join her brother
at the goldfield; Rose’s continuing battle
with her mother for more freedom and the
opportunity to go to school. Each book
offers well-developed personalities who the
reader will sympathise with, marvelling at
their strength of character as they face events
that today’s average Australian child will
never be confronted with. The reader will
also learn about a time in history where
harsh conditions made survival a day-to-day
battle. That said, these are not grim books
and each girl’s endurance and tenacity makes
for fulfilling reading. The authors have not
only brought alive each of the girls, but the
books combine to make a symbiotic whole. I
was captivated by the series and I’m sure girls
aged 7–12 will be as well.
Alexa Dretzke is from Readings Hawthorn
Picture Books
Let’s Play Games!
Collection
Hervé Tullet
Phaidon. Board. $9.95 each
In France, Hervé Tullet is known as the prince
of pre-school books and you only have to look
at his latest offerings to see why. The six board
books in his Let’s Play Games! collection are
all about interaction. The Game of Light is
designed to be read with the lights turned off
and a handy torch to shine through the die-cut
shapes of fish and flowers. Draw a face on your
finger and it will be the main character in The
Game of Finger Worms. Each book is a magical
adventure of flaps, cut-outs and bright shapes,
and each will stimulate young imaginations in
different ways. Be sure to also check out Mix
and Match, Let’s Go, Patterns and Mix-up Art.
Holly Harper is from Readings Malvern
Where’s Walrus
Stephen Savage
Scholastic. HB. $26.99
While Zookeeper is taking a nap, Walrus
escapes from the zoo and takes the opportunity to explore the city. With Zookeeper
hot on his heels, Walrus comes up with
a series of clever disguises to keep hidden. Is there something strange about that
mermaid in the fountain? And how about
that last builder on the end – could that be
Walrus? This wordless picture book is a lot
of fun with its colourful, retro illustrations
and the antics of the cheeky aquatic hero.
You wouldn’t believe how many places there
are to hide a walrus in the city! HH
That’s Not a Daffodil
Elizabeth Honey
A&U. HB. $24.99
One day Mr Yilmaz from
next door gives Tom a
daffodil bulb. ‘That’s not a
daffodil,’ says Tom. ‘That’s
an onion.’ So they plant it
together and wait to see
what happens. Satisfying pictures to pore
over tell a story with neighbourliness, the
love of growing things, and a fresh and
quirky imagination at its heart. Even the endpapers celebrate simple outdoor play.
Recommended for 2–5 year olds.
Kathy Kozlowski is from Readings Carlton
Aunties Three
Nick Bland
Scholastic. HB. $24.99
Knock! Knock! Knock! Uh-oh, there are visitors at the door, and who would it be but the
aunties three? Things must be neat and tidy
for stuffy Aunt Millicent, Aunt Alma and
Aunt Ingrid. Only your best clothes are to be
worn, your manners must be remembered,
and only speak when you are spoken to! But
will the aunties stick around when things
start to go wrong? Young readers will love
this delightful picture book from Nick Bland,
author of The Runaway Hug and The Very
Cranky Bear. The aunties look fabulous with
their monocles, fur hats and alligator purses,
and the short, rhyming text makes for a great
read-aloud that will have everyone guessing
what will go wrong next! HH
Middle Fiction
Troubletwisters
Garth Nix & Sean Williams
A&U. PB. $15.99
When Jack and Jaide’s house
is destroyed in a freak storm,
the twins are shipped off to
stay with their grandmother.
Eccentric Grandma X isn’t
exactly your normal variety of
granny who bakes cakes and
makes tea cosies: when
swarms of rats and cockroaches overrun the
house, the twins suspect Grandma X might
be controlling them with her mysterious
powers. On top of that, Jaide and Jack seem
to be developing powers of their own. Can
the two troubletwisters master their abilities
in time to halt the sinister forces at work?
Garth Nix and Sean Williams have created a
cracking, fast-paced start to a highly original
series that will really appeal to fantasy fans
aged nine and up. HH
Big Nate
Boredom Buster
Lincoln Peirce
Harper. PB. $14.99
Fans of Big Nate (the boy with the biggest
head in the world) include Diary of a Wimpy
Kid’s Jeff Kinney – and the books share a
similar quirky-but-everyday sense of humour.
This activity book is jam-packed with tasks
for Nate fans of all ages: you can create your
own comics, do word searches, crosswords,
puzzles, sudoku, How-to-Draw-Nate and
more. For ages 9 and up.
Kane Chronicles 2:
Throne of Fire
Rick Riordan
Penguin. PB. $19.95
In the second instalment of this trilogy, Carter and Sadie, offspring of the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane, set out on a search
for the Book of Ra, but the House of Life
and the gods of chaos are determined to stop
them. Narrated in two different wisecracking
voices, featuring a plethora of unforgettable
characters, and with adventures spanning the
globe, Throne of Fire is a thrilling ride.
too small to fail
Ballad
Penguin. PB. $16.95
A boy, a dog, a girl and a
camel. Throw in a kidnapping, bribery, and some
(boring-sounding but
actually hilarious) assetbacked derivatives and you
have the latest novel by
Morris Gleitzman. Gleitzman has a well-deserved reputation for
tackling difficult subjects with a light
touch, this time he deftly handles the
impact of the global financial crisis on a
boy whose parents own a bank and the
people who lose their money when trouble
hits. One unfortunate investor is one of the
boy’s ex-nannies and when she hatches a
half-baked plan to get her money back, it
sets off a chain of events that lead our hero
on some dangerous, amusing and ultimately rewarding escapades. For readers aged
nine and up.
Angela Crocombe is from Readings St Kilda
Scholastic. PB. $19.99
With a backdrop rooted in Celtic myth,
Ballad is the compelling sequel to Lament.
The central character, James Morgan, has an
exceptional gift for music. This attracts Nuala,
a soul-snatching faerie muse who fosters and
feeds on the creative energies of humans. As
their relationship intensifies, James battles to
save Nuala’s life and his own soul. An intoxicating read, featuring marvellously complex
characters who face impossible obstacles.
Morris Gleitzman
Young Adult
Pocketful of Eyes
Lili Wilkinson
A&U. PB. $17.99
Working in the taxidermy
department of the Melbourne Natural History
Museum over the summer
holidays, Bee does not
expect to be thrust into
mystery and romance.
However, the arrival of a
good-looking but know-it-all university
student and the death by apparent suicide
of the head taxidermist put an end to her
uneventful summer internship. Bee’s
resulting investigation with the assistance of
the annoying and attractive Toby is a
delight for any of us who started out
reading girl super-sleuths Nancy Drew or
Trixie Belden. It takes a classic genre and
weaves in a contemporary sensibility,
resulting in a fun read – with a dash of
romance.
Marie Matteson is from Readings Port Melbourne
Ministry of
Pandemonium
Chris Westwood
Walker. PB. $16.95
When Ben Harvester needs to get away
from it all, he goes to the cemetery to
think. There he meets the mysterious Mr
October, who warns Ben that his aunt is
about to die. At first Ben doesn’t think
much of it, but when the premonition
comes true he must admit that there are
things in this world he can’t explain. And
now Mr October has an offer for him: join
the Ministry of Pandemonium and become
a guide to spirits who have recently died.
The problem for Ben, however, is that
joining will anger an ancient evil. This is
a thrilling gothic read, and will have Neil
Gaiman fans hooked from page one. Mysteries abound in this chilling world, and
you’ll race through it in order to uncover all
of its secrets. HH
Divergent
Veronica Roth
Harper. PB. $24.99
This suspenseful, dystopian
thriller is the debut from
22-year-old Chicago-based
Veronica Roth. The book
centres around 16-year-old
Beatrice, who lives in a
futuristic society divided into
five factions, dedicated to the
cultivation of virtues: Candor (the honest),
Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the
brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the
intelligent). Beatrice has to choose between
staying with her family and being true to
herself. This spine-tingling story follows her
whirlwind decision and the ensuing journey
that changes her life forever.
Maggie Stiefvater
My Sister Lives on
the Mantelpiece
Annabel Pitcher
Hachette. HB. $24.99
Oh, how your heart aches for
young Jamie. He has lost a
sister to a bombing, his
mother has abandoned her
living children and his father
is lost in alcoholic grief. His
remaining sister has developed
a rebellious disdain for the
adults in her life, as she has been the one most
affected; it is her twin who died. Ultimately
she is the strong, understanding one when the
adults fail Jamie. Jamie’s cat is the only other
being that offers solace and stability as they
move to a village where everything is new, but
the family has just relocated their sadness;
there is no escaping a daughter’s/sister’s ashes
on the mantelpiece. Jamie was five when his
sister died and cannot grasp the grief his
family is immersed in – he just wants his
mother back and for his father to stop
drinking. Eventually he experiences first-hand
a loss that sends him reeling. This heart
wrenching young adult novel champions a
young boy with a very funny take on life.
There’s no doubt you will laugh and cry. For
ages 15 and up. AD
Marcelo in the
Real World
Francisco X
Scholastic. PB. $16.99
What a fascinating read. I loved it. Told
through the eyes of Marcelo, a 16-yearold with Asperger’s Syndrome, it is a novel
that inevitably will be compared to Mark
Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in
the Night-Time. And it is as good, but quite
different. Marcelo’s father insists that his son
take summer employment in the mailroom
of his highly successful corporate law firm,
instead of in a protected environment with
the ponies the boy so loves. The idea is that
he will learn to cope and prove himself in ‘the
real world’. How does a gentle, highly logical,
spiritual young man cope with this frenetic
world with its corporate ethics? How does he
relate to Jasmine in the mailroom, or Wendel,
the other boss’s son, when he thinks so differently? For ages 13 and up, though I suspect
older readers will enjoy it most, both for its
ideas and its story. KK
Mother’s Day
and Colouring
Competition
Sunday 8 May is Mother’s Day, a time to let
mums everywhere know just how much we
love them, and what better way to do it than
with a story? There’s a crop of lovely picture
books out this year for you to read with
mum, like My Mum’s the Best by Rosie Smith
and Bruce Whatley (Scholastic, HB, $16.99), Me and My Mum by Alison Ritchie and
Alison Edgson (Koala, PB, $14.99), and I Love My Mum by Anna Walker (Scholastic,
PB, $14.99). Plus we have some very special
friends to be won. Hugless Douglas is a bear
in need of a hug, and he’s hoping to get one
from you. Readings has five Douglas toys
to be won, and at over 60cm tall, that’s one
big hug! Each Douglas also comes with two
books: Don’t Worry Douglas, and Hugless
Douglas.To enter, pick up a colouring-in sheet
from your local Readings or download one
from our website. HH
Readings Bargain Table
Bargains on the web: New books are regularly added to our website. Click on the Bargains tab at www.readings.com.au.
Our Kind of Traitor
John Le Carré
Viking. PB. Was $35. Now $9.95
The master of spy fiction
returns with a suspenseful
novel of dirty money and
dirtier politics. Perry and
Gail are idealistic and in love,
when a Russian money
launderer enlists their help
to defect.
Revolt of the
Pendulum Essays
2005-2008
Clive James
Picador. HB. Was $50. Now $12.95
From the culture of fandom
to the cult of the critic, James
displays his ear for language,
his eye for detail and his
ability to focus on the finer
points and the bigger picture
simultaneously.
Trotsky: A Biography
Robert Service
Picador. HB. Was $75. Now $15.95
This illuminating portrait of
Trotsky sets the record
straight on common misconceptions about the man and
his legacy, completing
Service’s masterful trilogy on
the founding figures of the
Soviet Union.
The Turning: Stories
Tim Winton
Picador. PB. Was $32. Now $9.95
‘Winton writes with rare
sympathy … in The Turning,
… the small towns and a
stunning and unyielding
landscape, offer him a
enduring drama. A writer
of supreme integrity and
honesty.’ – Colm Toibin
The Box: Tales from
the Dark Room
Gunter Grass
Harvill. HB. Was $45. Now $16.95
In an audacious literary
experiment, Grass writes in
the voices of his eight children
as they record memories of
growing up, and of their
father – who was always at
work on a book, always at the
margins of their lives.
Solar
Ian McEwan
Cape. PB. Was $32.95. Now $15.95
Can a man who has made a
mess of his life clean up the
messes of humanity? A
complex novel that brilliantly
traces the arc of one man’s
ambitions and deceptions.
A startling, witty new work
from the author of Atonement.
Granta: Sex
John Freeman (ed.)
HB. $28. Now $10.95
Sex is our oldest obsession.
For as long as we’ve been
doing it, it has been used as a
mark of decline and a
measure of progress. A range
of top-notch writers tackle
the topic in this edition of
the iconic literary journal.
Under the Sun:
The Letters of
Bruce Chatwin
Bruce Chatwin
Cape. HB. Was $55. Now $24.95
As the celebrated author of
In Patagonia and The
Songlines, Chatwin’s desire
for adventure and enlightenment was made evident by
his writing. These letters
reveal a passionate man and
a storyteller par excellence.
World On Fire:
An Epic History of
Two Nations Divided
Amanda Forman
Allen Lane. PB. Was $35. Now $14.95
The bestselling author of
Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire delves into the fascinating story of the American
Civil War, told through
the dramatic and poignant
first-hand accounts of
some of the colourful
Englishmen and women who volunteered
to join the conflict.
From Seeds to Leave
Doug & Robin Stewart
CSIRO. PB. Was $27.95. Now $9.95
A comprehensive guide to
planting Australian native
trees and shrubs, on a small or
large scale. The book describes
how to collect your own fruits
and nuts; extract, store and
germinate seed in the right
way and in the best season;
use smoke to germinate seed normally
difficult to grow; and plant out, water, mulch,
protect, fertilise and prune your plants.
Paris:
The Secret History
Andrew Hussey
Bloomsbury. HB. Was $45.95. Now $16.95
‘In his outrageously readable,
impressively researched,
shockingly violent alternative
history of Paris, Hussey
illuminates the city’s gutters,
stews, slaughters, riots,
underbellies and crimes in the
shadowy corners that Balzac
relished. The result is a fascinating riot of a
book.’ – Simon Sebag Montefiore
The Ninth: Beethoven
and the World in 1824
Harvey Sachs
Faber. HB. Was $12.95. Now $15.95
‘This book is a great read for
expert musicians and for
people who can’t read a note
of music. It is a very personal, loving view of
Beethoven and his last
symphony, but it also
presents a fascinating historic
panorama.’ – Placido Domingo
In A Strange Room
Damon Galgut
Faber. PB. Was $30. Now $14.95
In this newest novel from
South African writer Damon
Galgut, a young loner travels
across eastern Africa, Europe,
and India. Unsure what he’s
after, and reluctant to return
home, he follows the paths of
travellers he meets along the
way. Traversing the quiet of wilderness and
the frenzy of border crossings, every new
direction is tinged with mourning, as he is
propelled toward a tragic conclusion.
Cartographia:
Mapping Civilizations
Vincent Virga
Little Brown. HB. Was $85. Now $29.95
Drawing on the Library of
Congress’s 4.8 million maps
and 60,000 atlases, this is an
overview of cartography in
different times and cultures.
Veteran picture editor Virga
up-ends our notion of maps
as two-dimensional representations of physical spaces by presenting
depictions of imaginative or spiritual
territory.
Sidney Nolan:
Retrospective
Barry Pearce
Art Gallery of NSW. HB.
Was $85. Now $29.95
Published to accompany the
Sidney Nolan Retrospective
exhibition, this handsome
book reproduces approximately 116 paintings. It is
presented in chronological
order, underlining the
evolution of Nolan’s vision
from its genesis in St Kilda during the 1930s
to the United Kingdom half a century later.
BUY TWO, GET ONE FREE!
Naxos AudioBooks on sale in May
Private Life
Jane Smiley
Faber. PB. Was $33. Now $12.95
From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand
Acres comes the powerful,
deeply affecting story of one
woman’s life, from post
Civil-War Missouri to
California in the midst
of World War II. ‘Smiley's
best novel yet...’ – The Atlantic Monthly
Amulet
Nazi Literarature
In the Americas
Buy any two titles from the award-winning
Naxos AudioBooks range and choose a third
for FREE
Over 500 titles available
Classic Literature, non-fiction,
children’s favourites, poetry and more
Read by Britain’s finest actors including
David Tennant, Dame Judy Dench
and Ewan McGregor
Beautifully packaged boxed sets available
that would make a great gift for Mum
this Mother’s Day
Roberto Bolano
PB. Were $32.95 ea. Now $9.95 ea.
Flavours of Vietnam
Meera Freeman
Black Inc. HB. Was $34.95. Now $12.95
Fragrant broths, rice paper
rolls, stir-fries, noodles ...
Vietnamese cuisine is light
and delicious. Meera
Freeman and Le Van Nhan
invite you to enjoy the
countless delights of cooking
and eating authentic
Vietnamese food.
Amulet is a highly charged first-person,
semi-hallucinatory novel that embodies the
melancholy and violent history of Latin
America.
Nazi Literature in the Americas is a triumph
of black humour and imaginary erudition—
a biographical dictionary of writers who
espoused extreme right-wing ideologies in
the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Catalogues and samplers available in-store
“Bringing Literature to Life”
Free item must be of equal or lesser value than the cheapest
of the two purchased
BETTY BLUE
New Release DVDs
DVD OF THE MONTH
THE KING’S SPEECH
$39.95 Bluray $49.95
After the death of his father
and the scandalous abdication
of his brother, Bertie – who
has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his
life – is suddenly crowned
King George VI. With his
country on the brink of war
and in desperate need of a leader, his wife
arranges for him to see an eccentric speech
therapist, Lionel Logue. After a rough start,
the two delve into an unorthodox course of
treatment, forming an unbreakable bond.
SARAH’S KEY
Released 4 May. $34.95. Blu-ray $39.95
Paris, 1942. The Starzynski
family’s life is up-ended when
French police burst into their
apartment in the Jewish
quarter to take them away.
Paris, present day. Journalist
Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott
Thomas) lives in Paris with
her husband Bertrand and their daughter.
While Bertrand prepares to renovate their
apartment, Julia researches a story on the
notorious Vel d’Hiv round ups of 1942. After
learning that Bertrand’s family acquired the
apartment during the war, Julia’s curiosity
forces her to uncover the truth.
SOMEWHERE
$39.95. Blu-ray. $44.95
Stephen Dorff and Elle
Fanning star in Sofia Coppola’s
witty and moving story about
the bond between a father and
his daughter. Actor Johnny
Marco is leading the fast-paced
lifestyle of a tabloid celebrity.
He’s comfortably numb with
his life of women and pills when his 11-yearold daughter Cleo unexpectedly arrives at his
room at the legendary Chateau Marmont
hotel. Their time together encourages Johnny
to re-question his life in ways he never
expected.
DESERT FLOWER
Released 4 May. $34.95
Desert Flower tells how an
African nomad overcame
considerable odds and
unspeakable traumas to
become an international
modelling sensation. The
inspiring tale of an extraordinary, proud and brave
woman, Desert Flower offers a gripping plea to
stop the terrible and inhuman tradition of
female genital mutilation.
CLUBLAND
Shy Tim Maitland’s mother is
a waitress by day, and is a
stand-up comedian by night.
When the beautiful Jill walks
into Tim’s life, things start to
look up. Unfortunately, his
mother is happy to stand
between him and romance.
MADE IN DAGENHAM
$39.95
Rita O’Grady finds herself
thrust into the limelight when
she becomes the leader of a
strike by the women who sew
upholstery at a Ford factory
in Dagenham, England –
a strike that, thanks to the
efforts of management and
unions to dismiss it, turns into a struggle over
equal pay for women.
INSPECTOR
MONTALBANO:
VOLUME 5
Salvo Montalbano resides in a
fictional seaside town called
Vigata and works with a team
of mixed abilities. Not only is
he distracted by his staff, but
exotic visitors from other
parts of Italy keep getting in
the way of solving crime. He’s
impatient, he’s meticulous, and he’s totally
unique. Montalbano is back for a fifth season.
RUBBER
Rubber is the story of
Robert, an inanimate tyre,
abandoned in the desert,
that suddenly and inexplicably comes to life. As Robert
roams the bleak landscape,
he discovers that he possesses terrifying telepathic
powers that give him the ability to destroy
anything he wishes. At first content to prey
on small desert creatures and discarded
objects, his attention soon turns to humans.
Leaving a swathe of destruction across the
desert landscape, Robert becomes a chaotic
force to be reckoned with.
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS
Maggie (Anne Hathaway) is
an alluring free spirit who
won’t let anyone – or
anything – tie her down.
But she meets her match in
Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal),
whose relentless charm
serves him well with the
ladies and in the cut-throat world of
pharmaceutical sales. Maggie and Jamie’s
evolving relationship takes them both by
surprise, as they find themselves under the
influence of the ultimate drug: love.
18 MAY
$34.95
THE DOUBLE HOUR
Sonia and Guido meet on a
speed date. They don’t say
much: the attraction is
instinctive. But as they’re on
the point of falling in love,
Guido dies. Sonia finds
herself alone again, coping
with a death for which she
can find no sense. While Sonia’s past comes
back to her, the reality around her starts to
break down. Who is Sonia really?
JEAN-JACQUES BEINEIX
FEATURES
THE CITY OF YOUR
FINAL DESTINATION
Latin American writer Jules
Gund only wrote one novel
over the course of his life,
but it was one of those first
novels so good that a second
wasn’t required for him to be
regarded as one of the greats.
He passed away recently,
and aspiring writer Omar Razaghi hopes to
write an authorised autobiography of the
man. Alas, Jules’s closest family members
have denied the request, after much debate.
Features Laura Linney, Anthony Hopkins
and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
DOUGLAS
SIRK
ON DVD
Released 5 May $24.95 Bluray $34.95
Zorg lives a peaceful life,
working diligently and
writing in his spare time.
That is until the beautiful,
wild and unpredictable Betty
walks into his life. As Betty's
behaviour starts to get out
of control, Zorg watches the
woman he loves go slowly insane. Features
Jean-Hugues Anglade and Béatrice Dalle.
Released 5 May.
$29.95 ea. (except Diva: $24.95 ea)
Presenting six films from cult
auteur Jean-Jacques Beineix:
Ip5 is a meditation about
nature and friendship; Moon
in the Gutter is a drama;
Roselyne and the Lions is a
romantic journey across
France; Locked-In Syndrome
tells the story of a stroke victim’s life struggle;
Mortal Transfer is a mix of psycho-thriller and
black comedy; and it’s the twentieth anniversary of the thriller Diva.
PIER PAOLO PASOLINI
FEATURES
From the director of Salo
comes the final two films
in the Trilogy of Life series
(The Decameron, The Canterbury Tales and Arabian
Nights). Canterbury Tales
tells bawdy stories which
celebrate every conceivable
form of sexual act with rich, earthy humour.
Arabian Nights tells of slaves and kings,
potions, betrayals, demons and lovemaking
in its myriad forms.
In celebration of the
‘Magnificent Obsessions’
season at ACMI
Get these & other Douglas
Sirk classics on DVD today
for only $19.95
Offer ends 31 May 2011
“Entirely delightful” TIME OUT
Influential Cinema from Around the Globe
DIRECTORSSUITE.COm.aU
THE LAST OUTLAW
This ground-breaking
four-part miniseries details
the life story of arguably one
of Australia’s most infamous
folk heroes – family man,
larrikin, gentleman, horseman
and bushranger, Ned Kelly.
Stars John Jarratt, Sigrid
Thornton, Steve Bisley and Gerard Kennedy.
SPIRITED: SEASON 1
$34.95
From the producers of Love
My Way comes Spirited, a
romantic look at life and love
after death with a rock and
roll twist. This blackly funny
series stars Claudia Karvan,
Roger Corser and Matt King.
THE BIG C
A woman who is told she has
Stage 4 malignant melanoma
decides to not tell anyone;
instead she pursues an
outrageous lifestyle at odds
with her obsessive-compulsive
teacher personality. Features
Laura Linney and Oliver
Platt.
THE SNOWMAN
In 1978 Jimmy Graham went
to Antarctica to teach
scientists survival skills on the
ice. Three months later he
returned, agitated and
paranoid, saying he stumbled
across an illegal American
nuclear site and that the CIA
had given him a chemical lobotomy. He
descended into madness. Unable to cope with
his behaviour, his wife fled with her two
children. Thirty years later his daughter Juliet
tries to uncover the truth and reconnect with
what’s left of the man she called her father.
AMERICAN:
THE BILL HICKS STORY
$29.95
Much more than a comedian,
Bill Hicks was and still is an
inspiration to millions.
His timeless comedy tackled
the contradictions of America
and modern life; teasing
apart the essence of religion,
the dangers of unbridled
government power and the double standards
inherent in modern society.
TANGLED
Disney presents a new twist
on one of the most hilarious
and hair-raising tales ever.
When the kingdom’s most
wanted bandit Flynn Rider
hides in a mysterious tower,
the last thing he expects to
find is Rapunzel, a spirited
teen with 70 feet of magical golden hair!
Together, the duo sets off on a fantastic
journey filled with laughter and suspense.
BLU-RAYS
A host of great titles at cheap prices. Get in
on the action and light up that big screen TV!
COMING SOON
May 18: True Blood: Season 3
May 26: The Fighter
June 1: Black Swan
June 8: Unstoppable, Alice
in Wonderland: Sixtieth
Anniversary
June 15: 127 Hours
June 29: Gnomeo and Juliet
And September is Star Wars month!
The Complete Saga is available on Blu-ray
for the first time.
New Release CDs
CD of the Month
HELPLESSNESS BLUES
Fleet Foxes
Normally $24.95
Our special price for May $19.95
Vinyl also available $24.95
Has anyone heard a band of
such unique aural beauty?
When introduced to their
2008 self-titled debut, I felt
like I’d been washed in the
river and reborn with a
newfound faith in music. Finally, a sound of
complete originality. Sure you can hear
certain influences like The Band or Neil
Young, but one listen and you walk away with
a sense of purity for a world that only their
eyes see. The luscious, sometimes awkward
harmonies continue to sweep across this
album, which opens with the introspective
Montezuma, raising questions of loneliness
and self that they then attempt to answer on
the following tracks, all the while raising more
questions. Play this album from start to
finish, but take note of Helplessness Blues,
Lorelai and the eight-minute genius that is
The Shrine/An Argument. Album of the
Month ... Album of the Year!
Lou Fulco is from Readings Carlton
Pop/Rock
WASTING LIGHT
Foo Fighters
Normally $26.95
It’s true to say that I don’t
often review such mainstream releases for this
newsletter. I often get my
pick of new Americana or
folk recordings, as is my
wish. The truth of the matter is that I do
love a chunky guitar sound and this, the
Foo Fighters’ seventh album of original
material, is a return to form for a band that
wrote the book on melodic, guitar-driven
rock. At first listen, the usual pop sensibilities and instant single seem to be lacking,
but just persevere. What is on show here is
a foot-stomping, heart-pounding, fistthumping, sing-it-loud-out-the-window-ofyour-car bunch of ball-busting songs that
are as good as any Grohl has written. The
first single, Rope, is as great a guitar song as
you will hear. As the cover note states …
PLAY IT LOUD! LF
I WANT THAT YOU ARE
ALWAYS HAPPY
The Middle East
Normally $26.95
Following this youthful
Townsville band’s impressive 2009 EP, Recordings of
the Middle East, comes
their first, long anticipated
full-length album. This is a
really gorgeous album from a group who
have, with the strength of their previous EP
release, already established a reputation for
their refined, lush, atmospheric indie folk
sound, similar to that of the Fleet Foxes
and Bon Iver. The album is rather melancholy and sparse in places (in a beautiful
way), containing an engaging concoction of
harmonious folk, minimal instrumental
‘interludes’, jazzy snippets, subtle samples
from the Australian landscape and
cityscape, and billowing orchestral tracks.
Miranda La Fleur is from Readings St Kilda
LAST OF THE COUNTRY
GENTLEMEN
Josh Pearson
Normally $26.95
Josh Pearson’s previous
band, Lift to Experience,
released one critically
acclaimed album, The
Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads,
ten years ago. Pearson
finally returns with an album of gentlypicked country guitars and nearly-whispered
lyrics of love and loss. It’s chillingly fragile
throughout, and a more heartbreaking listen
you won’t find this year. It’s steeped in
religious imagery; God and the Devil do
battle for the soul. Pearson is now a labelmate of Nick Cave, The Dirty Three and
Richard Hawley, and a more suitable label
than Mute I can’t imagine. These are artists
with a similar knack for evoking a powerful
sadness without ever being sappy.
New ebooks
at special prices *
Before I Go To Sleep
S. J. Watson
Paperback $29.95
ebook $14.96
Apocalypse
Bill Callahan
Normally $24.95
Though often unfairly
miscast as a depressive,
Texan troubadour Bill
Callahan’s fourteenth
studio album, Apocalypse, is
not a vision of the end of
days so much as a revelation of new frontiers. The spare poetry and seemingly
simplistic motifs that characterise his sound
will be familiar to fans, but this latest song
cycle – apparently recorded live – is packed
with surprises: high lonesome surf guitar,
woolly fuzz, cinematic funk and meandering
free jazz forms, arcadian flute solos, volumes
of stormy distortion – and much more to be
discovered here, I’m sure!
Ryan McCarthy is from Readings Hawthorn
The Girl Who Would
Speak for the Dead
Paul Elwork
Paperback $29.99
ebook $14.99
Making Trouble
Robert Manne
Paperback $34.95
ebook $14.96
FIASCO
My Friend the Chocolate Cake
$24.95
Having begun playing
together in 1989, My
Friend the Chocolate Cake
released their wonderful
self-titled debut 20 years
ago. Here they return with
a tremendous new album, Fiasco. The
unlikely union of kitchen-sink piano tales,
vivid chamber orchestration and hell-raising
instrumental shenanigans is well known by
now. Join us at our Carlton store on Friday
May 6 at 6pm when My Friend the Chocolate Cake launch this new album with a
performance and signing afterwards.
Dave Clarke is from Readings Carlton
I Am Melba
Ann Blainey
Paperback $27.95
ebook $9.99
The Ottoman Motel
Christopher Currie
Paperback $32.95
ebook $14.96
DIRECTORS CUT
Kate Bush
Released 13 May. Price TBC. Available as a
standard CD. Deluxe 3CD edition & vinyl.
Six years ago, Kate Bush
returned from her selfinflicted wilderness with a
new album in Aerial, and
now a follow-up is on the
cards. The mysterious
songstress is to release Director’s Cut in
mid-May. There is a twist, of course, as
Director’s Cut is not actually an album of
new material. Instead, Kate revisits a
selection of tracks from her albums
The Sensual World and The Red Shoes,
a process that presents a fascinating portrait
of an artist in a constant state of evolution.
She has re-recorded some elements, while
keeping the best musical performances of
each song.
Beautiful Thing
Sonia Faleiro
Paperback $29.95
ebook $13.56
ebooks.readings.com.au
* These special ebook prices only until 31.05.11
Last Night on Earth
melBouRne
inteRnational
jazz FeStival
june 4-13
2011
Noah and the Whale
$21.95
This band is named after
Noah Baumbach’s 2005
movie, The Squid and the
Whale. After two solid
indie folk albums, the
band are maturing with
their new release. The sound is reminiscent
of Belle and Sebastian and Arcade Fire,
especially apparent on the tracks Just Me
Before We Met and Life is Life, respectively.
The new record encapsulates the creative
growth of a band in their prime.
Michael Awasoga-Samuel is from Readings
Carlton
Featuring
Sonny
RollinS
(USA)
Sun Ra
aRkeStRa
(USA)
noRma
WinStone
Country
PAPER AIRPLANE
Alison Krauss & Union Station
(UK)
the Raah
PRoject
(AUS)
Play School’S
Big jazz
adventuRe
and much more ...
FoR ticketS & Full PRogRam viSit
melBouRnejazz.com
Normally $26.95
In her first outing with
Union Station in seven
years, Alison Krauss leaves
behind her high profile
collaborations and returns
to her bluegrass (albeit
twenty-first century bluegrass) roots. Union
Station are, as musicians, unparalleled and
the music on offer here transcends musical
boundaries. Songs by artists such as Jackson
Browne, Richard Thompson, Tim O’Brien
and Peter Rowan are given the Krauss
treatment and the acoustic Lay My Burden
Down will surely break your heart. Welcome back! LF
I’ll Never Get Out
of This World Alive
Steve Earle
SEW
BAGS
Need a new tote bag?
Readings has a new range
of superior quality SEW
bags, handmade in
Tanzania from recycled
materials, each one
unique! Only $29.95 ea.
SEW is a development project
Need a new tote bag? Get a SEW bag, handmade in
fromwomen
recycled materials,
that employsTanzania
HIV+
in each one unique!
Only $19.95
Arusha, Tanzania.
SEW is a development project
that employs HIV+ women in
Arusha, Tanzania.
Standard edition $24.95.
Deluxe 2CD edition $29.95.
Vinyl $39.95
This highly anticipated new
album from Grammy
award-winning country star
Earle is his first album of
original material since
2007. While lyrically, it’s
not the most cheerful record you’ll ever hear,
Earle’s songwriting continues to impress and
there are some beautiful tracks here.
Production is handled by the equally
legendary T Bone Burnett. It also features
This Town, which he wrote for David
Simon’s fantastic HBO series Treme. And
keep an eye out for Earle’s debut novel
Melissa Whebell is from Readings Hawthorn
HARD BARGAIN
Emmylou Harris
Normally $26.95
Deluxe Edition with DVD $29.95
There is so much to like
about this new album
from Emmylou, starting
with just three musicians
(including herself ) coming
together to record a
simple, unfussy bunch of lovely songs. So
all you have is guitar, bass, drums and
occasional keyboard and banjo – and of
course the unmistakable voice of Emmylou.
It all works so well, especially the title track
Hard Bargain, written by Ron Sexsmith, a
sadly neglected talent. A tribute to Gram
Parsons and a farewell ballad to Kate
McGarrigle are both very touching; there’s
just a wealth of enjoyment here.
Alice Bisits is from Readings Malvern
VINYL
Jazz
Gladwell
Julian Lage
$24.95
For those unfamiliar with
Julian Lage, he was a bit of
a child prodigy. Given his
first guitar at age five (a
Fender Stratocaster no less),
he quickly developed so
much so that by the age of eight he had
played with Carlos Santana. This is his
second album and it’s dazzling from start to
finish. The mixture of group and solo pieces
really displays his formidable technique and,
coupled with his wonderful imagination,
make this one of the jazz releases of the year.
Whatever you do, don’t miss this one.
Phil Richards is from Readings Carlton.
Blues
Dust Bowl
Joe Bonamassa
$24.95
Solo album number 12 for
Joe has his fans all in a
flurry of praise: it’s his best
album to date. Many will
know his style of heavily
British-influenced blues
rock and wailing guitar solos. Featuring
guests John Hiatt, Vince Gill, and Glenn
Hughes, the album is half covers and half
originals. Joe will be hitting our shores in
May for an Australian tour. MW
Folk & World
RRAKALA
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
Normally $29.95
This new release from
Gurrumul is by far the
most anticipated Australian
release of the year. Rrakala
will cement Gurrumul’s
reputation and the
extraordinary acheivement generated by the
overwhelming reception that greeted his
groundbreaking 2008 release, after making
the cover of Australian Rolling Stone and
bringing a truly independent recording
(featuring songs in traditional language) to
platinum status. Gurrumul has been able to
move vast amounts of listeners worldwide
and remain true to his artistic soul. Once
again, that incredibly moving voice wraps
itself around some deeply felt lyrics concerned with community and the natural
world and spirit world. On Rrakala,
Gurrumul has cast his net a little wider to
take in some extra stylistic instrumental
textures, with his multi-instrumental talents
adding drums and piano and overdubbing
harmonies.
Paul Barr is from Readings Carlton
BAND OF BROTHERS
strong improvisational element. The brothers
Grigoryan get to strap turbo-chargers onto
their acoustics and trade licks with oud
master Joseph on some exciting world music
jams, as well as some jazz peices and the odd
classically influenced Beatles cover. PB
ROAD TO DAMASCUS Syriana
$26.95
This is a curious but
extremely satisfying slice of
world music fusion that
comes across very convincingly as a soundtrack to an
Arabic road movie. English
fusionists Jah Wobble and Nick Page mix it
up with slide and surf guitars among the
authentic Arabic strings percussion and
occasional vocals. PB ASHORE
June Tabor
$24.95
Tabor has been one of the
leading lights on the
English folk scene and, like
Maddy Prior, has been a
huge influence on a lot of
the current crop of female
singers. Tabor and Prior even collaborated
on the very enjoyable Silly Sisters album
back in the mid 70s. Every couple of years,
June Tabor re-emerges with a new set of
dramatically performed and extremely well
chosen and arranged songs from contemporary songwriters. This time round, she has
collected songs thematically linked to the sea
and has beautifully reprised The Grey Funnel
Line from the Silly Sisters era. PB
Also Out
This Month
Moment Bends (Architecture in Helsinki),
Modern Glitch (Wombats), Gathering Mercury (Colin Hay), Singers (Nouvelle Vague)
Take The High Road (Blind Boys of Alabama)
Neptune (Eliza Carthy), Oddities (Kate &
Anna McGarrigle), Kosciuszko (Jebediah),
Take Care Take Care Take Care (Explosions
in the Sky), Celebration Florida (Felice
Brothers), Sketches from the Book of the Dead
(Mick Harvey), Sign of Life (Bill Frisell),
Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 (Beastie Boys).
Released May 6
Roses at the End of Time (Eliza Gilkyson),
Let Love In, The Boatman’s Call, Murder
Ballads, No More Shall We Part (Nick Cave):
All collectors’ editions with extra tracks.
Released May 16
Rome (Danger Mouse & Danielle Luppi)
Till It’s Gone (Ben Harper)
Tell My Sister (Kate & Anna McGarrigle)
Rocket Science (Bela Fleck)
Released May 23
Born This Way (Lady Gaga)
Slava & Leonard Grigoryan;
Joseph & James Tawadros
Released May 27
This is an inspired pairing
of the two sets of brothers
(whose paths have crossed
many times before), all at
the top of their game in
their respective musical
genres. Joseph Tawadros is still riding high
on his The Hour of Separation, with its very
Coming 3 June
$25.95 AT CARLTON,
HAWTHORN &
ST KILDA.
Codes & Keys (Death Cab for Cutie)
Suck It & See (Arctic Monkeys)
Coming 10 June
Title TBC (Bon Iver)
Coming 17 June
In Your Dreams (Stevie Nicks).
Miles Davis, Tom Waits,
The Velvet Underground,
The Rolling Stones, and more !
Classical CDs
Classical CD
of the Month
Pages from a Secret
Journal: Orchestral
Works by Richard Mills
Richard Mills & MSO
ABC Classics. 4764217. 2 CDs. $24.95
The latest recording from
ABC Classics is a celebration of our local internationally renowned composer, the extraordinary
Richard Mills. Featuring the
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Mills, two CDs of orchestral works are
given pride of place. Quirky in spots, lyrical
in others, it is a terrific example of what’s
happening in Australian contemporary music
today. And if those words scare you, don’t be
scared – it’s not just listenable, it’s engaging
and although modern, tuneful, with strong
harmonic movement and the full gambit of
orchestral colours engaged. I’m biased and
think the MSO are awesome; so I will just say
that they continue to be fabulous here.
Kate Rockstrom is from Readings Carlton
Classical Special
of the Month
J.S. Bach:
St Matthew Passion
Rudolf & Erhard Mauersberger
Berlin Classics. 0183902BC. Normally $65.95
Our special price $29.95.
Limited stock at this price
This recording, under the
musical direction of Rudolf
& Erhard Mauersberger, is
masterful. As a result, the
listener is treated to a
beautiful, warm and
powerful performance by the Dresden
Kreuzchor, the Thomanerchor Leipzig,
Gwandhausorchester Leipzig and soloists
such as Peter Schreier, Theo Adam, Siegfried
Vogel and Johannes Kunzel. Considered by
many to be among the best performances of
one of Bach’s true masterpieces, it will sit
proudly in any music lover’s collection.
Phil Richards is from Readings Carlton
A Worcester Ladymass
Trio Mediaeval
ECM New Series. ECM 2166. $29.95
On their fifth release on
ECM New Series, and their
first in four years, Oslo’s
Trio Mediaeval have chosen
a work from the thirteenth
century, a reconstruction of a votive Mass to
the Virgin Mary, based on manuscripts and
fragments originating in an English Benedictine Abbey. The original manuscripts were
missing a Credo and a Benedicamus Domino,
so the trio invited English composer Gavin
Bryars to compose the appropriate settings,
which sit very well with the mediaeval
originals. This is a stunningly beautiful
performance from this brilliant trio. PR
Bonjour Paris
Albrecht Mayer
& Mathias Monius
Decca. 4782564. Normally $26.95
The mellow tone of
Albrecht Mayer has again
come to serenade us.
Principal oboist in the
Berliner Philharmoniker
since 1992, this new solo
recording is completely French in its
repertoire. Favourite well-known works,
Debussy’s Clair de Lune, Faure Sicilienne, are
interspersed with lesser known ones by
Francaix, Odermatt and D’Indy. Often it is
said that German musicians cannot play
French repertoire with the delicacy it
requires, but Mayer proves he’s up the
challenge and with the Academy of St Martin
in the Fields, he presents a highly enjoyable
recording. KR
Romantic Violinist
Daniel Hope
4779301. Normally $26.95
Daniel Hope presents us
with a new recording after
the success of his Baroque
Air, a homage to violin
master and guru, Joseph
Joachim (1831-1907). All
of the works featured are connected with
him. The playing is superbly gentle, with
great use of colour and dynamics. The
everlasting favourite, the Bruch Violin
Concerto opens the recording, and Brahms,
Dvorak, Schubert are featured, as well as two
works by Joachim himself. KR
Mahler:
Symphony No. 10
Mark Wigglesworth & MSO
ABC Classics. 4764336. Normally $26.95
I saw the MSO perform
Mahler Symphony No 7
under Mark Wigglesworth
recently and heard it said
after the concert, that ‘after
Mahler you either need a
drink or a shrink’. Well, I’m leaning more
towards the drink after listening to their
release of Mahler Symphony No 10, and raise
my glass to another stunning recording. The
MSO perform Mahler exceptionally well; the
depth of tone, the time taken over harmonic
changes and melodic lines that are allowed to
naturally unfold are all sublime. KR
Handel:
Music for the Royal
Fireworks/Water
Music suites 1 & 2
Graham Abbot & Tasmanian
Symphony Orchestra
ABC Classics. 4764300. $26.95
The first question that may
be asked here is ‘does the
world need another
recording of Handel’s
Fireworks and the Water
Music?’ Probably not, but
the world certainly does need and appreciate
music played with passion and that is what
you get here. I for one never tire of hearing
this music, and under the astute baton of
Graham Abbot, the Tasmanian Symphony
Orchestra have delivered a recording that is a
beautifully played homage to Handel. PR
Rachmaninoff:
Symphony No. 2
/ Lyadov: The
Enchanted Lake
Antonio Pappano
EMI. 9494622. $19.95
Antonio Pappano continues what has been
an impressive career so far with this new
recording. Beginning with Lyadov’s The
Enchanted Lake, Pappano delivers a delicate
reading of this haunting minature. He moves
effortlessly into a beautiful performance of
the second symphony of Rachmaninoff. The
nature of this piece can lead to an over-sentimental Hollywood type performance, but
Pappano never lets this happen. He delivers
magnificently. PR
Marc-André Hamelin
Hyperion. CDA67635. $33.95
Hyperion’s Romantic Piano
Concerto series has
unearthed many rarely
performed works – some
more rewarding than
others. Reger’s Piano
Concerto in F Minor, the highlight of this
disc, deserves the attention it gets here.
Marc-André Hamelin is among the most
technically brilliant pianists alive, and a
perfect choice for this concerto, whose piano
part is complex and demanding. There is
much, including the dazzling piano work, to
remind one of Reger’s contemporary,
Rachmaninov. Reger’s melodies are not quite
as hummable as Rachmaninov’s (not
necessarily a bad thing), but the themes are
strong and completely engaging. EM
Delius:
Appalachia, The Song
of the High Hills
BBC Symphony Orchestra and
Chorus & Sir Andrew Davis
Chandos. CHSA5088. Normally $34.95
This sort of music always
seems to evoke vast,
sublime landscapes. The
titles of these works are
suggestive; but there is
something about the way
melodies are subsumed into something
grander and less focused that drives this association. The BBC Symphony, under Sir
Andrew Davis, seems to understand this
music well. These performances are very
much about shimmering textures; through
which the warmth and tactility of various
instrumental timbres is allowed to speak, but
without breaking the vast unity of the big
orchestral sound. EM
Górecki: The Three
String Quartets
Royal String Quartet
Hyperion. CDA67812. $33.95
Górecki’s fame owes almost
entirely to the enormous
popularity of his Symphony
No 3. These string quartets,
written originally for the
Kronos Quartet, depart
dramatically from the tenderness and
harmonic simplicity of the famous symphony. While not a return to his early atonal
works, these quartets are a retreat into
something darker and less transparent. The
playing by the Royal String Quartet is
compelling, severe and full of conviction,
and I would describe the music, which often
has a relentless, pulsing quality, in those
same terms. There is much beauty here –
particularly in the slower and more drawnout String Quartet No 3 – but it is beauty of
a more challenging kind.
Evan Meagher is from Readings Hawthorn
Order Form
You can also browse and buy at our secure website ~ www.readings.com.au
The Romantic Piano
Concerto Vol. 53:
Reger & Strauss
DVD Opera Sale
Readings is celebrating the new
Opera Australia season by offering
a large selection of opera DVDs on
sale—at up to 50% off regular prices.
Plus, purchase any opera-related
DVD and you’ll go into the draw
to win a double pass to any opera
during the season or a selection of
DVDs from Opera Australia.
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Mother’s Day titles from Scribe
BEREFT
Chris Womersley
The Taste of River Water
Winner of the Indie Award for
Fiction 2011
Longlisted for the Miles Franklin
Award 2011
cate kennedy
Disarming, warm and always accessible, Cate Kennedy’s poems
make ordinary experiences glow. Everything that suffuses
her well-loved prose is here: compassion, insight, lyrical
precision, and the clear, minimalist eye that reveals how life
can turn on a single moment. Musing on the undercurrents and
interconnections between legacy, memory, motherhood and the
natural world, the poems in this exhilarating collection begin
on the surface and then take us, gracefully and effortlessly, to a
far more thought-provoking place. Grounded in lived experience,
with all its mysteries and consolations, they resonate with a
passionate, sensuous honesty.
While stocks last, you’ll also get a copy of Cate
Kennedy’s award-winning novel The World
Beneath free when you buy The Taste of River
Water — that’s one for Mum, and one for you!
www.scribepublications.com.au
#1
IN
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‘Womersley writes with such
compelling power it is barely
possible to put the book down.’
— Debra Adelaide
LITTLE PEOPLE
Jane Sullivan
‘A pure delight — I fell in love with
this glorious novel from the very
first page. Little People is vibrant
storytelling at its charismatic best.’
— Toni Jordan
THE PAPER GARDEN
Molly Peacock
A beautifully illustrated biography
of an extraordinary eighteenthcentury woman, and a fascinating
meditation on late-life creativity,
The Paper Garden is ‘a blessed relief
from the humdrum, a bright feather
in a peacock’s tail.‘ — SMH
These titles are also available as eBooks
GY
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PanteraPress.com
PanteraPress.com

Delia Falconer interviews Mandy Sayerp4

Transcription

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