by NRB | 8 Sep 2016 | Non-fiction |
This new biography of Brett Whiteley is completely compelling. Brett and I were close. Geographically. He lived just around the corner in Raper Street, Surry Hills. I would often see that compact, woolly-haired, tightly-wound man barrelling down Crown Street. We never...
by NRB | 28 Aug 2015 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
If people of my generation, those of us who tuned in to popular music, were asked what was their favourite Bob Dylan song, I expect there’d be at least 20 nominations, maybe more. The early protest songs would register with many people, and then the breakthrough into...
by NRB | 5 Dec 2014 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
I must have spent a fair bit of time in doctors’ and dentists’ waiting rooms because I can’t think where else I would have read the Reader’s Digest as often as I did. I had two favourite features – ‘Humour in Uniform’, which contained no doubt pathetically lame jokes,...
by NRB | 28 Oct 2014 | Non-fiction |
Fourteen interviews with Australian musicians give rare insights into the mystique of drugs and the creative process. One Christmas a long time ago, I received a yellow card with a big capital ‘H’ on the front and inside, instead of ‘Season’s...
by NRB | 19 Sep 2014 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
I recently compiled a list of the countries I’ve been to since leaving Australia for the first time at the age of 25. This was probably about the average age to travel overseas for an Australian in search of something back then, but far later than for some of my...
by NRB | 12 Sep 2014 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
Spring, more than winter, is umbrella time in Sydney. You might walk out on a sunny morning and get wet ten minutes later. You might take shelter, have a coffee and have to put your sunnies on as you start out and run for cover before you get home. Happily, in...
by NRB | 14 Feb 2014 | The Godfather: Peter Corris |
I’m growing a beard, again. The first thing I had to do was seek Jean’s agreement. Some women dislike beards. Others prefer them. I’ve known several men who, on shaving off their beards, have their wives or partners request them to grown them again. Jean offered no...
by NRB | 6 Dec 2012 | Non-fiction |
Neil Young reveals and Pete Townshend conceals in these contrasting rock & roll memoirs. The rock & roll confidential has occupied one of the least edifying shelves in the bookstore. The hazy memories of too many girls and too many drugs were shaped by...
JUNE WRIGHT Mother Paul series. Reviewed by Karen Chisholm6 December 2024June Wright has faded from view, but in 1948 her novel Murder in the Telephone [ … ]
ANDREW O’HAGAN Caledonian Road. Reviewed by Catherine Pardey5 December 2024This new novel from the author of Mayflies is set in London, but Glasgow is [ … ]
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 [ … ]