JUDITH BRETT The Enigmatic Mr Deakin. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
The Enigmatic Mr Deakin, the new biography of Australia’s second, fifth and seventh Prime Minister, is a magnificent sweep of a book that demanded to be written. Deakin has been the subject of previous biographies and author Judith Brett quickly establishes her points...
ALEXIS WRIGHT Tracker. Reviewed by Kathy Gollan
In Tracker (winner of the 2018 Stella Prize), hundreds of stories are told to build up the portrait of an immensely complex and gifted man. This is a big book about a big personality but it’s not a traditional biography. Most of it consists of transcribed...
BRI LEE Eggshell Skull: A memoir about standing up, speaking out and fighting back. Reviewed by Ashley Kalagian Blunt
Writing with raw energy and cool intelligence, in Eggshell Skull Bri Lee reminds us of the prevalence of abuse and injustice in our communities. The first pre-trial hearing Bri Lee worked on as a judge’s associate in the Queensland District Court involved a...
KATE LEAVER The Friendship Cure. Reviewed by Ashley Kalagian Blunt
There’s an antidote to loneliness, one Kate Leaver believes in powerfully, as her debut book The Friendship Cure shows. There is serious competition for the title of most pressing health epidemic of our time, including workplace stress, mental illness...
GEOFFREY ROBERTSON Rather His Own Man: Reliable memoirs. Reviewed by Peter Corris
Robertson is on the right side of history and morality. Surely he can’t be that good, that funny? The title of Geoffrey Robertson’s memoir was inspired by the comment of a senior British public servant when a Blair-government minister intended to...
JOSEF MÜLLER-BROCKMANN Grid Systems in Graphic Design: A visual communication manual for graphic designers, typographers and three dimensional designers. Reviewed by Tom Patterson
Grid Systems has style. It also shows us that among the many joys of reading there is the pleasure of book design. You should judge a design book by its cover. If a book claims to know how to present, then it needs to present. So at first glance, this one doesn’t look...
ANITA HEISS (Ed.) Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia will do much to aid the understanding and commonality between different Australian communities. This collection of reminiscences of Indigenous childhoods begins with a moving and beautifully written introduction by editor Anita...
JONATHAN PEARLMAN (Ed) Trump in Asia: The new world disorder. Australian Foreign Affairs 2. Reviewed by Mathilde Montpetit
Trump in Asia is recommended reading for anyone interested in the machinations of Asia-Pacific politics. The brand-new Australian Foreign Affairs journal, now on its second issue, has much to offer for those seeking a wonkish view of how Australia’s foreign...
IAIN MCINTYRE and ANDREW NETTE (Eds) Girl Gangs, Biker Boys, and Real Cool Cats: Pulp fiction and youth culture 1950 to 1980. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
Iain McIntyre and Andrew Nette have created a loving homage to pulp fiction with its lurid covers and taglines. This book, lavishly illustrated with pulp covers, is itself a beautiful thing. Its own lurid green cover features a number of pulp...
DON WATSON There It Is Again: Collected writings. Reviewed by Bernard Whimpress
There It Is Again is an anthology of Don Watson’s sharp-eyed observations on political and social issues in the 21st century. While Australia is the prime focus, the first of these 47 essays, ‘Rabbit Syndrome’ is devoted to American politics, and the United...
INGA SIMPSON Understory: A life with trees. Reviewed by Tracy Sorensen
In Understory Inga Simpson invites us to be more truly here than we were before. This memoir of a life among trees – and all their attendant and nearby species, from other trees, to geckos, robins, goannas and more – is set on ten acres of forest in the hinterland of...
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