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Editorial – Issue 73

Guest editorial Against complacency When I arrived in New Zealand 28 years ago I confessed to an eminent seismologist that, although an avid reader, I knew little about New Zealand writing. Fortunately for me he was a Renaissance man with

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Current account, Robin Johnson

Healthy Money Healthy Planet: Developing Sustainability Through New Money Systems Deirdre Kent Craig Potton Publishing, $34.99, ISBN 1877333298 This book is a serious critique of orthodox economic writing and attempts to set out an alternative interpretation of the role of

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Posted in Non-fiction, Review

What the Inspector of Nuisances saw, Deborah Montgomerie

Dirt: Filth and Decay in a New World Arcadia  Pamela Wood Auckland University Press, $44.99, ISBN 1869403487 Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but dirt is so much more interesting. Pamela Wood’s smart and insightful history of the varieties of

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Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Invitation to a smorgasbord, Christine Johnston

The Cat’s Whiskers: New Zealand Writers on Cats ed Peter Wells Random House, $29.95, ISBN 1869417453 The Best New Zealand Fiction Volume 2 ed Fiona Kidman Random House, $29.95, ISBN 1869417402 Huia Short Stories 6: Contemporary Maori Fiction Huia, $29.95,

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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

Mahy wins “Little Nobel”

Margaret Mahy has won the world’s premier prize for children’s writing, the Hans Christian Andersen Award. Dubbed the “Little Nobel”, it has been given biennially since 1956 to an author who has made a lasting contribution to international children’s literature. She

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Posted in Comment

Rules of the game, Chris Else

Great Sporting Moments  ed Damien Wilkins Victoria University Press, $29.95, ISBN 0864735154 Great Sporting Moments tempted me to do the unthinkable – review a book without actually reading it. This was not because I thought the contents would be bad

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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

Taut and twanging, Barbara Else

Running Hot  David Hill Mallinson Rendel, $16.95, ISBN 0908783949 With Lots of Love from Georgia  Brigid Lowry Allen and Unwin, $19.00, ISBN 1741143101 Kaitangata Twitch Margaret Mahy Allen and Unwin, $19.00, ISBN 174114485X The Unknown Zone Phil Smith Random House,

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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Young adults

Just the facts, ma’am, John Bonallack

Peter Blake Sailor, Adventurer: The Story of a New Zealand Hero Alan Sefton Puffin, $16.95, ISBN 0143318306 Scarecrow Army: The Anzacs at Gallipoli Leon Davidson Black Dog Books, $19.95, ISBN 1876372605 Blue New Zealand: Plants, Animals, Environments: A Visual Guide

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Posted in Biography, Children, Media, Natural History, Review, War, Young adults

Off the page, Barbara Murison

Hunter Joy Cowley Puffin, $16.95, ISBN 0143318292 Super Freak Brian Falkner Mallinson Rendel, $16.95, ISBN 0908783981 Chinatown Girl: The Diary of Silvey Chan, Auckland, 1942 Eva Wong Ng Scholastic New Zealand, $16.99, ISBN 1869436598 Ask any publisher of New Zealand

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Posted in Children, Fiction, Literature, Review

No longer young, male or Christian, Margaret McClure

Body, Mind and Spirit: YMCA Auckland Celebrating 150 Years 1855-2005  Colin Taylor Reed Publishing, $69.99, ISBN 0790009862 Auckland’s reputation has been assessed too long in terms of its founding father’s claim that “the whole and entire object of every one

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Posted in Biography, History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology
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