Blog Archives

Bullies behind the screen, Jane Westaway

Whale Oil Margie Thomson Potton and Burton, $40.00, ISBN 9780947503819 The authors of certain books published in this country deserve medals. Not literary prizes, although they might merit these, too. But I mean authors who devote themselves to uncovering connections…
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Posted in Media, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Is work what makes us human? Alex Beattie

How To Be Human In The Digital Economy Nicholas Agar MIT Press, $27.00, ISBN 9780262038744 Take a minute to consider the speed with which technology is changing our everyday lives. The opening hours of local banks have reduced due to…
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Posted in Non-fiction, Psychology, Review, Sociology

Seeing how they run, Geoff Watson

When Running Made History Roger Robinson Canterbury University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9780815611004 New Zealanders have a longstanding connection with running. Long-distance running was one of the early activities of Māori and, from at least as early as the 1880s, New…
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Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology, Sport

Speaking frankly, Margaret Sparrow

My Body, My Business: New Zealand Sex Workers In An Era Of Change Caren Wilton (Madeleine Slavick photographer) Otago University Press, $45.00, ISBN 9781988531328 As I write this review, I hear a news item that Dame Catherine Healy DNZM and…
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Posted in Essays, History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

On not relying on truthiness, Brian Easton 

A Conversation With My Country Alan Duff Penguin Random House, $39.00, ISBN 9780143773269 In 1990, a comet brightened the New Zealand literary scene and society with the publication of Alan Duff’s Once Were Warriors, for it involved both an extraordinary…
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Posted in Māori, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Making conversation, Michele A’Court

Past Caring? Women, Work And Emotion Barbara Brookes, Jane McCabe and Angela Wanhalla Otago University Press, $40.00, ISBN 9781988531342 Still Counting: Wellbeing, Women’s Work And Policy-making Marilyn Waring BWB Texts, $15.00, ISBN 9781988545530 A few days ago at a book…
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Posted in Essays, Gender, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Women past and present, Kim Worthington

Women Equality Power: Helen Clark: Selected Speeches from a Life of Leadership Allen and Unwin, $45.00, ISBN 9781988547053 Women Now: The Legacy of Female Suffrage Bronwyn Labrum (ed) Te Papa Press, $35.00, ISBN 9780994146007 If there was ever a year…
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Posted in Essays, Gender, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Going high, Julia Millen

To the Mountains: A Collection of New Zealand Alpine Writing Laurence Fearnley and Paul Hersey (eds) Otago University Press, $45.00, ISBN 9781988531205 Since the arrival of Pacific peoples, New Zealand’s mountains have enthralled and enchanted. Māori revered the craggy peaks…
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Posted in History, Literature, Natural History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Unpleasant truths, Douglas Lloyd Jenkins

Theo Schoon: A Biography Damian Skinner Massey University Press, $60.00, ISBN 9780995100176 Hudson and Halls: The Food of Love Joanne Drayton Otago University Press, $50.00, ISBN 9781988531267 There has long been an uneasiness on the part of local biographers when…
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Posted in Art, Biography, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

The games we play, Owen Mann

Sport and the New Zealanders: A History Greg Ryan and Geoff Watson Auckland University Press, $65.00, ISBN 9781869408831 On Christmas Day last year, many people around the country would have ripped open a well-wrapped gift to discover a sportsperson’s biography…
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Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology, Sport
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