by NRB | 29 Oct 2024 | Non-fiction |
Eric Beecher’s vital new book provides a history of world journalism, good and bad, with a pessimistic view of the future. Beecher knows his territory. In his youth he was an investigative journalist at the Melbourne Age during the glory days of Graham Perkin’s...
by NRB | 17 Oct 2024 | Non-fiction |
Australia’s Covid response may have had problems, but Steven Hamilton and Richard Holden argue that our country fared far better than others. A mere four years ago our lives were turned upside down by the Covid pandemic. For the overwhelming majority of us, Covid now...
by NRB | 8 Oct 2024 | Non-fiction |
Opus Dei likes to operate in the shadows; Gareth Gore brings its activities – including allegations of human trafficking – into the light. In 2017 Banco Popular Español, the sixth-largest bank in Spain, collapsed. Gareth Gore, a journalist with the International...
by NRB | 2 Oct 2024 | Non-fiction |
Katherine Wiles’ life as a professional opera singer seems glossed with sunshine in this memoir. You will sing and it will work out. You will find your place in the world. Just keep knocking on all those doors. Katherine Wiles has always had this voice in her head,...
by NRB | 25 Sep 2024 | Non-fiction |
Researcher Lynne Kelly explains the groundbreaking discovery of the gene that enables humans to store knowledge – and create art. What makes us human? The question is philosophic, but increasingly the answer concerns DNA. We share 98.7 per cent of our genetic matter...
by NRB | 20 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
Maggie Walters’ memoir goes beyond the clichés of Hollywood to describe what it’s like living with mental illness. Maggie Walters was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder) 30 years ago. On the outside, she is like...
by NRB | 14 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
Fintan O’Toole takes a fresh look at the world’s most famous playwright and the resonances his plays hold for our own time. Fintan O’Toole takes issue with the way Shakespeare has commonly been taught and discussed since the nineteenth century. In particular, he...
by NRB | 13 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
Ariane Beeston’s memoir chronicles her experience of postpartum psychosis, a devastating but little-understood condition. Because I’m Not Myself, You See casts a spotlight on an issue I knew nothing about. Postpartum psychosis is the most severe form of postpartum...
by NRB | 8 Aug 2024 | Non-fiction |
A mysterious man named the Pirate and the beautiful island of Corfu feature in this memoir from the author of The Sorrow Stone. It is September 1990. Kári Gíslason and his friend Paul have been hitchhiking across Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Italy. They are now on a...
by NRB | 25 Jul 2024 | Non-fiction |
In the aftermath of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, our need to understand the US feels more immediate than ever. What sort of society is America? Can it, in fact, even be regarded as a society? The country has an exalted view of itself as a land of...
by NRB | 18 Jul 2024 | Non-fiction |
Sam Elkin’s memoir encompasses the politics of the queer community and the realities of gender transition. Sam Elkin has written an intriguing memoir which encompasses his transition to a transmasculine male and his work for the pilot queer legal service set up within...
by NRB | 11 Jul 2024 | Non-fiction |
At last, a wonderfully comprehensive biography of tennis legend Harry Hopman, who captained Australia’s Davis Cup teams to 16 wins from 21 Challenge Round finals. It is fortunate that Michael Sexton took on the task. A gifted writer, whose credits include the...
CATHERINE JINKS Panic. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm6 February 2025In her new novel, Panic, Catherine Jinks provides a timely take on online mobs, [ … ]
TODD LEY Smashed: Tennis prodigies, parents, and parasites. Reviewed by Braham Dabscheck4 February 2025Todd Ley’s account of his time as a tennis prodigy may be one of the most [ … ]
MELANIE CHENG The Burrow. Reviewed by Sanchana Venkatesh30 January 2025The arrival of a pet rabbit proves confronting as well as comforting for the [ … ]
JONATHAN WATTS The Many Lives of James Lovelock: Science, Secrets and Gaia Theory. Reviewed by Ann Skea29 January 2025Jonathan Watts relates the extraordinary life of scientist, engineer, Gaia [ … ]