Blog Archives

A habit of story-telling, Dennis McEldowney

The Best of Albert Wendt’s Short Stories Random House, $29.95, ISBN 1 86941 392 X The title might have been Most of Albert Wendt’s Short Stories. It includes all the stories in his two previous collections, Flying Fox in a…
Tagged with: , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Short stories

Naughty bits, A K Grant

A Dictionary of Modern New Zealand Slang ed Harry Orsman Oxford University Press, $24.95, ISBN 0 19 558408 2 Harry Orsman achieved semi-divine status among New Zealand scholars with the publication of his highly-acclaimed Dictionary of New Zealand English. But…
Tagged with: ,
Posted in Language, Non-fiction, Review

Men Behaving Not Too Badly, Jane Westaway

Alpha Male William Brandt Victoria University Press, $24.95, ISBN 0 86473 378 X The young male voice has been absent from the NZ Lit chorus lately, and for that reason alone William Brandt’s first book is worth a close look.…
Tagged with: , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

Buying into Baxter? Rob Jackaman

Beyond the Palisade James K Baxter (ed Paul Millar) Oxford University Press, $29.95, ISBN 0 19 558406 6 Autumn Testament James K Baxter (ed Paul Millar) Oxford University Press, $29.95, ISBN 0 19 558386 8 Not arriving in New Zealand…
Tagged with: , , ,
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review

Else-where, Phillip Mann

Brainjoy Chris Else Tandem Press, $24.95, ISBN 1 877178 34 9 If “What if … ?” can be regarded as the foundation question of all fiction, then for Science Fiction it should be accompanied with two question marks; for of…
Tagged with: , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Mixing memory and desire, Kim Worthington

Dismemberment Kapka Kassabova Auckland University Press, $19.95, ISBN 1 86940 207 3 Reconnaissance Kapka Kassabova Penguin, $24.95, ISBN 0 14 028343 0 Marked as a new talent to watch, Kapka Kassabova has received extensive media attention in the past two…
Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Poetry, Review

Smoke gets in their poems, Laurence Jenkins

Eat These Sweet Words. The New Zealand Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Poetry eds Sue Fitchett, Marewa Glover, Cary McDermott, Rhona Vickoce Publishing Giant Press, 
$24.95, ISBN 0 9583582 4 9 When Two Men Embrace. The New Zealand Anthology of…
Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Gender, History, Non-fiction, Review

Plus ça change … Alison Gray

Family Matters: Child Welfare in Twentieth-Century New Zealand Bronwyn Dalley Auckland University Press, $39.95, ISBN 1 86940 190 5 Not long after this is published, the Department of Social Welfare will be restructured. Again. What was CYPS and then CYPFA…
Tagged with: , , ,
Posted in History, Review, Sociology

Life stories from the edge, Ralph Crane

From the Edge of the Sky: A Memoir Maurice Shadbolt David Ling, $29.95, ISBN 0 908990 59 6 An Albatross Too Many James McNeish David Ling, $24.95, ISBN 0 908990 55 3 When in 1993 I enthusiastically reviewed Maurice Shadbolt’s…
Tagged with: , , , ,
Posted in Autobiography, Non-fiction, Review

Recovering time, Juliet Rowe

Eating Peacocks Barbara Else Vintage, $29.95, ISBN 1 86941 378 4 Delia Whittborne, aged 28, wakes up in a hospital bed paralysed and in pain. She is aware only of her name, her immediate surroundings, and a sense of recent…
Tagged with: , , ,
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Search the archive
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Filter by Categories
Architecture
Art
Autobiography
Awards
Biography
Byline
Children
Comment
Contents
ebooks
Economics
Editorial
Education
Essays
Extract
Fiction
Gender
Graphic novel
Health
History
Imprints
Language
Lecture
Letters
Letters
Literature
Māori
Media
Memoir
Music
Natural History
Non-fiction
Obituaries
Opinion
Pacific
Photography
Plays
Poem
Poetry
Politics & Law
Psychology
Religion
Review
Science
Short stories
Sociology
Sport
War
YA Reviewers
Young adults
Recent issues: subscriber-only access

    Subscribe to NZ Books to access the issues above

    Search by category