Blog Archives
Looking forward, Tim Hazledine
The Big Questions: What is New Zealand’s Future? Various authors Penguin Random House, $38.00 ISBN 9780143772378 I’ve been worrying about Trump. Not the man – a lost cause, that – but the movement: Trumpism – the apparently bigoted, intolerant, resentful…
Tagged with: Issue 124, Penguin Random House, Summer 2018, Tim Hazledine
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Whose history? Simon Hay
wThe Expatriate Myth: New Zealand Writers and the Colonial World Helen Bones Otago University Press, $35.00, ISBN 9781988531175 The Expatriates Martin Edmond Bridget Williams Books, $50.00, ISBN 9781988533179 Helen Bones aims to dismantle the “myth” that New Zealand writers, in…
Tagged with: Bridget Williams Books, Helen Bones, Issue 123, Martin Edmond, Otago University Press, Simon Hay, Spring 2018
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
At a crossroads, Max Harris
Unquiet Time: Aotearoa/New Zealand in a Fast-changing World Colin James Fraser Books, $39.50, ISBN 9780994136015 Last year, Colin James published his final weekly column with the Otago Daily Times, after over 50 years of work as a journalist. In a…
Tagged with: Autumn 2018, Colin James, Fraser Books, Issue 121, Max Harris
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Grudging nationalist, Mark Williams
Charles Brasch: Journals 1945-1957 Peter Simpson (ed) Otago University Press, $60.00, ISBN 9781927322284 I approached this book rather in the spirit of someone visiting a civic monument to a figure august and admired, but obscurely known. In the late 1980s,…
Tagged with: Autumn 2018, Charles Brasch, Issue 121, Mark Williams, Otago University Press, Peter Simpson
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
“An area of increasing need”, Sylvan Thomson
Representing Trans: Linguistic, Legal and Everyday Perspectives Evan Hazenberg and Miriam Meyerhoff (eds) Victoria University Press, $40.00, ISBN 9781776561759 The day before this review was due, my mother messaged me to say that she had heard an interview on…
Tagged with: Autumn 2018, Evan Hazenberg, Issue 121, Miriam Meyerhoff, Sylvan Thomson, Victoria University Press
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Getting the news out, James Norcliffe
Surviving 7.8: New Zealanders Respond to the Earthquakes of November 2016 Phil Pennington and Radio New Zealand HarperCollins, $35.00, ISBN 9781775541103 New Zealanders, Cantabrians in particular, have, over the last half-dozen years, become reluctant experts in earthquakes. We have…
Tagged with: HarperCollins, Issue 120, James Norcliffe, Phil Pennington, Radio New Zealand, Summer 2017
Posted in History, Media, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Posted in History, Media, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Larrikins past, Nick Bollinger
Teenagers: The Rise of Youth Culture in New Zealand Chris Brickell Auckland University Press, $50.00, ISBN 9781869408688 In 1971, I became a teenager. It was the start of a complicated, confusing, exciting time. Over the next few years, I…
Tagged with: Auckland University Press, Chris Brickell, Issue 120, Nick Bollinger, Summer 2017
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Gloomy agreement, Tom Brooking
The New Zealand Project Max Harris Bridget Williams Books, $40.00, ISBN 9780947492588 New Zealand: Paradise Squandered? Reflections on What We’ve Lost and Where We’re Heading John Hawkes John Hawkes, $40.00, ISBN 9780473375553 Two New Zealanders at either end of their…
Tagged with: Bridget Williams Books, Issue 120, John Hawkes, Max Harris, Summer 2017, Tom Brooking
Posted in Non-fiction, Politics & Law, Review, Sociology
Posted in Non-fiction, Politics & Law, Review, Sociology
Fiasco, Jon Johansson
Hit and Run: The New Zealand SAS in Afghanistan and the Meaning of Honour Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson Potton & Burton, $35.00, ISBN 9780947503390 As someone who has been around the political traps a fair while, my heuristic for…
Tagged with: Issue 119, Jon Johansson, Jon Stephenson, Nicky Hager, Potton & Burton, Spring 2017
Posted in Media, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Posted in Media, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Revisiting the 1930s, Tony Simpson
The Broken Decade: Prosperity, Depression and Recovery in New Zealand 1928–1939 Malcolm McKinnon Otago University Press, $50.00, ISBN 9781927322260 In 1968, I left my home town of Christchurch and came to Wellington to work as a producer in radio in…
Tagged with: Issue 118, Malcolm McKinnon, Otago University Press, Tony Simpson, Winter 2017
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology