Whim Wham’s New Zealand: The Best of Whim Wham 1937-1988 Terry Sturm (ed) Vintage, $34.99, ISBN 1869417577 It is by now no secret that Allen Curnow, a man with few rivals for the title of “New Zealand’s Greatest Poet”,…
Whim Wham’s New Zealand: The Best of Whim Wham 1937-1988 Terry Sturm (ed) Vintage, $34.99, ISBN 1869417577 It is by now no secret that Allen Curnow, a man with few rivals for the title of “New Zealand’s Greatest Poet”,…
I Am Always With You Philip Temple Random, $34.99, ISBN 1869417739 The Viewing Platform Ian Wedde Penguin, $29.95, ISBN 9780143020929 Local writers Stevan Eldred-Grigg (Kaput!) and Tina Shaw (The Black Madonna) have found imaginative inspiration in wartime Berlin, and now…
Bright Star: Beatrice Hill Tinsley Astronomer Christine Cole Catley Cape Catley, $49.99, ISBN 1877340014 I can offer the usual apologia for astronomy. There’s its significance as a global employer (NASA alone pays 20,000 salaries). Its contributions to other sciences, such…
Degrees of Separation Laurence Fearnley Penguin, $28.00, ISBN 0143020579 Relative Strangers Emma Neale Vintage, $27.99, ISBN 1869417828 Work in Progress Paul Thomas Black Swan, $27.99, ISBN 1869418255 Shanghai Boy Stevan Eldred-Grigg Vintage, $27.99, ISBN 1869417933 If I didn’t know…
The Origins of China’s Awareness of New Zealand, 1674-1911 William Tai Yuen New Zealand Asia Institute, The University of Auckland, $25.00, ISBN 0473104245 Unreal City: A Chinese Poet in Auckland Yang Lian (ed Jacob Edmond and Hilary Chung) Auckland University…
John Wright’s Indian Summers John Wright with Sharda Ugra and Paul Thomas Hodder Moa Beckett, $49.99, ISBN 9781869710620 In a sport largely populated by talented solipsists, former New Zealand captain John Wright has always stood out within cricket for his…
Shrewd Sanctity: The Story of Kathleen Hall, 1896-1970: Missionary Nurse in China Rae McGregor Polygraphia, $30.00, ISBN 1877332321 In an age of “icons” and “celebrities”, true heroes are hard to find. Kathleen Hall, however, was the real deal. This extraordinary…
John Tomb’s Head Stephanie Johnson Vintage, $28.00, ISBN 1869418263 You have to admire The Rev Mr Taylor, whoever he might have been, for chronicling, in the manner of Nigella Lawson discussing the preparation of a steak and kidney pudding, the…
Books for Christmas
Some of our 2006 reviewers divulge what books they’d most like to find under the tree these holidays. Elizabeth Smither wants Dead Europe by Christos Tsiolkas, this year’s Melbourne Age novel of the year, in which a gay Australian photographer travels…
Posted in Comment