by NRB | 20 Jul 2012 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
I have published 66 books of fiction and half a dozen non-fiction titles and am called prolific, but I am a minnow compared to the whales of big literary producers. Belgian Georges Simenon published over 200 novels and almost as many novellas. Best known for his books...
by NRB | 13 Jul 2012 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
Like most readers, I have favourite books; by that I mean ones I re-read or at least dip into frequently. Three of mine are: The Bare Knuckle Breed by Louis Golding, The Sweet Science by AJ Liebling and Sober Truth: A Collection of Nineteenth Century Episodes,...
by NRB | 11 Jul 2012 | Fiction |
These stories of family trauma find their echoes in the elements. In ‘Moon River’, the chapter of memoir that comes at the end of this collection of short stories, there is an image of the Brisbane River swollen and raucous in flood. It occurs six months after the...
by NRB | 6 Jul 2012 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
We know that video killed the radio star, but what killed the Western genre? Up until the 1960s the Western, in novels, pulp novelettes and short stories, was immensely popular, possibly as popular as crime fiction is today. I never saw my father open a book, but I’m...
by NRB | 4 Jul 2012 | Non-fiction |
The art and times of Rosemary Laing. I’m looking at a 100-year-old black and white photograph of a man riding a bicycle. It is on the cover of a biography of Alfred Jarry, author of Ubu Roi and one of the bright young literary lights of the turn-of-the-century...
by NRB | 29 Jun 2012 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
Thirty-five years ago, as a result of my neglect of diabetes, I developed retinopathy. This is a condition that can cause blindness. I was lucky; the argon laser had recently become available in Australia and skilful use of it saved my sight. As one doctor said, ‘You...
by NRB | 27 Jun 2012 | Non-fiction |
A history of the world’s most fascinating drug. Did you know that only the white poppy yields opium? Did you know that harvesting opium requires great skill but that to produce heroin from morphine requires only basic chemical knowledge and simple equipment? Did...
by NRB | 22 Jun 2012 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
When is a ghost-writer not a ghost-writer? My answer is, when his or her name appears on the cover. I’ve worked with six people to help them produce their autobiographies. Four books have resulted; one that was written remains unpublished and another is nearing...
by NRB | 21 Jun 2012 | Fiction |
Families and their enduring effect on individuals give the author of Novel About My Wife a deep well to draw from. Dorothy and Evelyn, the sisters at the heart of Emily Perkins’s novel The Forrests, are so close in age and similar in...
by NRB | 19 Jun 2012 | Fiction |
This timely novel of estranged sisters and a family consumed by history gives a compelling insight into contemporary Greece. The house on Paradise Street, Athens, is home to three generations of the Perifanis family. Told alternately by Maude (or Mondi, as the Greeks...
by NRB | 15 Jun 2012 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
It’s often said that writing is a solitary, lonely business. Well, I suppose the actual act of writing is done alone, but I never minded the kids coming in to ask what I was doing or to request a peanut butter sandwich; and Christopher Smart and Raymond Chandler had...
by NRB | 12 Jun 2012 | Fiction |
Nearly 200 years later, Oliver Twist is still a great read. As it is the 200th anniversary of his birth, I decided to revisit Dickens, and read, for the first time, Oliver Twist, which was originally published between 1837 and 1839 in serial fashion. The first...
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IAIN RYAN The Dream. Reviewed by Ben Ford Smith3 December 2024Iain Ryan’s latest novel continues his fascination with 1980s Queensland and [ … ]
MARINA YUSZCZUK Thirst. Reviewed by Ann Skea28 November 2024Argentinian writer Marina Yuszczuk puts her twist on the vampire novel in [ … ]