Blog Archives

“A most entertaining little man”, Chris Szekely

Posted on March 13, 2016 by NZ Books

Hocken: Prince of Collectors Donald Jackson Kerr Otago University Press, $60.00, ISBN 9781877578 663 Dry bread and milk for breakfast. Dry bread and milk for supper. Not much chop for a boy of eight at Woodhouse Grove in 1844, but…

Tagged with: Autumn 2016, Chris Szekely, Donald Jackson Kerr, Issue 113, Otago University Press, Thomas Morland Hocken
Posted in Art, Biography, Non-fiction, Review

Telling our stories to ourselves, Chris Else

Posted on March 13, 2016 by NZ Books

Jerome Kaino: My Story Jerome Kaino Penguin, $40.00, ISBN 9780143573562 Wildboy Brando Yelavich Penguin, $35.00, ISBN 9780143573159 The Good Doctor Lance O’Sullivan Penguin, $38.00, ISBN 9780143572510 How Bizarre Simon Grigg Awa Press, $38.00, ISBN 9781927249222 Lydia Bradey: Going Up is…

Tagged with: Autumn 2016, Awa Press, Brando Yelavich, Chris Else, Issue 113, Lance O’Sullivan, Laurence Fearnley, Lydia Bradey, Penguin Books, Simon Grigg
Posted in Autobiography, Biography, Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

The colony’s resident expert of choice, Simon Upton

Posted on December 5, 2015 by NZ Books

James Hector: Explorer, Scientist, Leader Simon Nathan Geoscience Society of New Zealand, $45.00 ISBN 9781877480461 Simon Nathan’s biography of Sir James Hector fills a major gap in the nation’s historical bibliography. The reasons why the gap remained unfilled for over…

Tagged with: Geoscience Society of New Zealand, Issue 112, James Hector, Simon Nathan, Summer 2015
Posted in Biography, History, Natural History, Non-fiction, Review, Science

Moss, C K Stead

Posted on December 5, 2015 by NZ Books

Maurice Gee: Life and Work Rachel Barrowman Victoria University Press, $60.00 ISBN 9780864739926 When I was young, New Zealand fiction had three Maurices. Duggan (“Maurice”) was the maestro, Gee (“Moss”) the dependable tradesman, and Shadbolt (“Morrie”) the showman. The maestro…

Tagged with: C K Stead, Issue 112, Maurice Gee, Rachel Barrowman, Summer 2015, Victoria University Press
Posted in Biography, Literature, Non-fiction, Review

Necromancy and piety, John O’Leary

Posted on March 11, 2015 by NZ Books

A Blighted Fame: George S Evans 1802-1868, A Life Helen Riddiford Victoria University Press, $60.00, ISBN 9780864738967 For Gallant Service Rendered: The Life & Times of Samuel Austin Barbara Mabbett Steele Roberts, $35.00, ISBN 9781877577710 Biography is a strange…

Tagged with: Autumn 2015, Barbara Mabbett, George S Evans, Helen Riddiford, Issue 109, John O’Leary, Samuel Austin, Steele Roberts, Victoria University Press
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review

Exploring the biographers, Tom Brooking

Posted on March 11, 2015 by NZ Books

Frank Worsley: Shackleton’s Fearless Captain John Thomson Craig Potton, $50.00 ISBN 9781927213124 Dumont d’Urville: Explorer and Polymath Edward Duyker Otago University Press, $70.00 ISBN 9781877578700 Here we have two very different approaches to writing about the history of European…

Tagged with: Autumn 2015, Craig Potton, Dumont d’Urville, Edward Duyker, Ernest Shackleton, Frank Worsley, Issue 109, John Thomson, Otago University Press, Tom Brooking
Posted in Biography, History, Non-fiction, Review

Just perk up your ears, Barbara Else

Posted on December 5, 2014 by NZ Books

The Life and Art of Lynley Dodd Finlay Macdonald Penguin, $50.00, ISBN 9780143567967 A tousle on spindly legs has conquered the world. How did it happen? Finlay Macdonald’s biography of Lynley Dodd describes her journey from childhood in the Kaingaroa…

Tagged with: Barbara Else, Finlay Macdonald, Issue 108, Lynley Dodd, Penguin, Summer 2014
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review

A veritable Pooh-Bah, Edmund Bohan

Posted on December 5, 2014 by NZ Books

Dear Tyrant; An Extraordinary Colonial Life Barrie Allom Wairarapa Archive/Fraser Books, $39.50, ISBN 9780992247522 Albert James Allom (1825-1909) always described himself in his numerous and usually self-justifying writings as “Gentleman”, a title that frequently in his latter years brought down…

Tagged with: Barrie Allom, Edmund Bohan, Wairarapa Archive/Fraser Books
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review

Larger than life, Simon Upton

Posted on December 5, 2014 by NZ Books

Richard Seddon: King of God’s Own – The Life and Times of New Zealand’s Longest-serving Prime Minister Tom Brooking Penguin, $65.00 ISBN 9780143569671 I grew up in a very complacent country which didn’t really take its history seriously. New Zealand…

Tagged with: Issue 108, Penguin, Simon Upton, Summer 2014, Tom Brooking
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review

The effort at reasonableness, Miranda Johnson

Posted on August 29, 2014 by NZ Books

Paikea: The Life of I L G Sutherland Oliver Sutherland University of Canterbury Press ISBN 9781927145432 The critical theme of Oliver Sutherland’s biography of his father, Ivan Sutherland, is the rational pursuit of an understanding of others. The theme is…

Tagged with: I L G Sutherland, Issue 107, Miranda Johnson, Oliver Sutherland, Spring 2014, University of Canterbury Press
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review