Blog Archives

Flickers without the flame, Elizabeth Smither

Lust: stories from Australian and New Zealand writers Michael Gifkins (ed) Vintage, $24.95 ISBN 186941 2435 Of the seven deadly sins, most of us have a predilection for one or two. If two are combined, like sloth and gluttony, it

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Posted in Literature, Review, Short stories

Boring murder to death, Michael Pearson

Off With His Head Ngaio Marsh HarperCollins, $15.95, ISBN 000 6169198 Sounds Easy — a New Zealand mystery Carol Dawber River Press, $16.95, ISBN 0959804129 Inside Dope Paul Thomas Hodder Moa Beckett, $17.95, ISBN 186958 1598 “Who cares?” has replaced

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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Culturally inappropriate, Hamish Keith

Gauguin and Maori Art Bronwen Nicholson, with contributions by Roger Blackley, Jonathan Mane‑Wheoki, Roger Neich, Richard Wolfe Godwit (with Auckland City Art Gallery), $29.95, ISBN 0 908877692 This is a small book, 80 pages in all, which is entirely appropriate

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Posted in Art, Māori, Non-fiction, Review

Getting facts on your side, Bill Oliver

Waikato Raupatu Claims Settlement Act 1995 For the most part history is published in books and journals and the people who do it are named. Anyone who reviews a historical publication is expected to keep a sharp lookout for errors

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Posted in Comment

Self-reliant in Victorian New Zealand, Erik Olssen

Nearly Out of Heart and Hope: The puzzle of a colonial labourer’s diary Miles Fairburn Auckland University Press, $39.95 ISBN 1869401182 Anybody familiar with New Zealand history is likely to feel a sense of excitement at the prospect of reading

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Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review

The boundaries have been reset, Steve Maharey

Trade, Employment and Welfare: A comparative study of trade and labour market policies in Sweden and New Zealand. 1880‑1980 Deborah Mabbett Clarendon Press, no price available ISBN 019828379 2 A Home of One’s Own: Housing policy in Sweden and New

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Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Vietnam more goyishe, Adam Levy

Far from the Promised Land? Ann Beaglehole and Hal Levine GP Publications, $39.95 ISBN 0958341742 There were more synagogues in New Zealand last century than there are today. Hokitika had a synagogue and so did Timaru and Nelson. Many South

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Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

But what about all the others, Paul Spoonley

Immigration and National Identity in New Zealand: One People, Two Peoples, Many Peoples? Stuart W Greif (ed) Dunmore Press, $39.95 ISBN 0864602382 Some things endure. One is the hostility towards those from Asia who have chosen to emigrate to New

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Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Poser for the new right, Geoffrey Bertram

Ethics and Ecosystems: Protecting Human Interests and Environmental Values Barry Maley Centre for Independent Studies, Australia, $18.95, ISBN 186432 0028 Reconciling Trade and the Environment: Issues for New Zealand Grant Hewison Institute of Policy Studies, $22.00 ISBN 0908935 994 Environment:

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Posted in Natural History, Non-fiction, Review

Lomu-isation, Piet de Jong

Please forgive me. In common with such canny marketing organisations as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, shoe giant Reebok, beer mogul Steinlager, a cheese company, the ASB Bank and others, I have just invoked the name of Jonah Lomu

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Posted in Comment
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