by NRB | 7 Jul 2022 | Non-fiction |
An important book about the Australian Test team during the tumultuous years of World Series Cricket from the author of Second Innings. The major split in Australian cricket occurred 45 years ago when overtures were made to leading players to join media magnate Kerry...
by NRB | 5 Jul 2022 | Non-fiction |
Gregory Day’s writing is inextricably bound with the landscape in this collection. Words are Eagles is a tonic selection of Gregory Day’s various non-fiction published in Australian journals, magazines and newspapers over recent years (roughly the period 2015 to...
by NRB | 16 Jun 2022 | Non-fiction |
Deidre O’Connell recounts how an American jazz band caused panic in White Australia. In the latter part of the 1920s, the JC Williamson Company was on the lookout for American talent to attract patrons to vaudeville shows at their Tivoli Theatres. One of the...
by NRB | 14 Jun 2022 | Non-fiction |
The bestselling novelist brings together real-life love stories in this collection. How this book came together is as intrinsic to its existence as the 150 love stories it contains. It opens with Dalton’s letter to his friend Kathleen Kelly, who has ‘bowed out to...
by NRB | 9 Jun 2022 | Non-fiction |
Robert Dessaix reveals his love of language and literature in these occasional pieces. Abracadabra – an ancient Aramaic spell avra kadavra (‘it will be created in words’). In his preface to these collected writings, Dessaix describes them as ‘talks of mine from gala...
by NRB | 24 May 2022 | Non-fiction |
Was the explorer Ferdinand Magellan the hero European history has claimed him to be? Failure is fatal to happiness but can be fruitful for fame. Metaphorically, resurrection often follows crucifixion. Sometimes partial but spectacular success adds glamour to a...
by NRB | 19 May 2022 | Non-fiction |
Drewe Rooke outlines a decades-long litany of errors by South Australia’s forensic pathologist. How can we trust what we think we know? The only way to have any certainty is to test our conclusions to see if they contain weaknesses – elements that do not conform with...
by NRB | 26 Apr 2022 | Non-fiction |
David Dufty’s new book tells the story of the men who brought Ned Kelly to justice. Ned Kelly is a topic as controversial as the Eureka Stockade, a narrative which divides, and is framed as rebellion vs authority. He was similarly anathema for decades, before a...
by NRB | 21 Apr 2022 | Non-fiction |
This collection brings together Assia Wevill’s writing to offer a vivid picture of her life. Assia Wevill is known to many people because of her relationship with Ted Hughes and her more difficult relationship with Sylvia Plath. There is much gossip about her but, as...
by NRB | 5 Apr 2022 | Non-fiction |
Lo Carmen’s memoir celebrates some of the fearless creative women who have shaped Australian popular culture, and her connections to them. Musician and actor Lo Carmen has said she thinks of Lovers Dreamers Fighters ‘more as a cultural history than a memoir … It’s...
by NRB | 24 Mar 2022 | Non-fiction, SFF |
Dangerous Visions and New Worlds explores how science fiction reflects the times in which it is written. In this lavishly illustrated collection of essays, Nette and McIntyre take a third loving look at the era of pulp fiction, following on from their Girl Gangs,...
by NRB | 17 Mar 2022 | Non-fiction |
Olivia Laing puts the case for art in times of crisis. 2021 – what a hell of a year. 2022 – not shaping up to be much better, yet. Where do we turn in times of strife? Well, in search of solace in the middle of Sydney’s long lockdown last year, I picked up...
HELEN GARNER The Season. Reviewed by Michael Jongen23 January 2025Helen Garner’s account of a single season of her grandson’s AFL team is about [ … ]
EVA MENASSE Darkenbloom. Reviewed by Ann Skea22 January 2025In Austrian writer Eva Menasse’s new novel, the residents of a small border [ … ]
MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ Annihilation. Reviewed by James Arbuthnott21 January 2025The controversial author of Atomised sets his new – and possibly last – novel [ … ]
CHER The Memoir Part 1. Reviewed by Naomi Manuell16 January 2025Cher is a genuine superstar who has had an extraordinary career across music, [ … ]