Nest Consider this pouch of air, thatch of cloud, tightly woven against a sky loosely strung. This swirl of wind is threaded to miracles. In this scoop of heaven, time coddles echoes, joggle of eggs, shuffle of fledglings,…
The Governors: New Zealand’s Governors and Governors-General Gavin McLean Otago University Press, $59.95, ISBN 1877372250 Amassing Treasures for All Times: Sir George Grey, Colonial Bookman and Collector Donald Jackson Kerr Otago University Press, $59.95, ISBN 1877372218 Gavin McLean’s book is,…
The Smell of an Oily Rag Cherry Simmonds Random House, $27.99, ISBN 1869418492 Purple Heart Ta’afuli Andrew Fiu Random House, $27.99, ISBN 1869418042 A New Zealand joke, current in the 1970s, entailed asking how one knew when a 747 carrying…
Ghosts of Gondwana: The History of Life in New Zealand George Gibbs Craig Potton Publishing, $49.99, ISBN 1877333484 Extinct Birds of New Zealand Alan Tennyson and Paul Martinson Te Papa Press, $64.99, ISBN 0909010218 Ghosts of Gondwana is a remarkable…
Blame Vermeer Vincent O’Sullivan Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9780864735515 The Black River C K Stead Auckland University Press, $25.00, ISBN 978869403850 Sol Andrew Johnston Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9789864735492 The Ponies Bernadette Hall Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN…
Aramoana: Twenty-two Hours of Terror Bill O’Brien Penguin, $28.00, ISBN 014300624X I was only nine years old when David Gray killed 13 people, too young to remember with any sadness or clarity the tragedy beamed into our living rooms that…
Insights: New Zealand Artists Talk about Creativity Gareth Shute (ed) Reed, $29.99, ISBN 1869418247 “The more you reason,” counselled Raymond Chandler, “the less you create.” Before he began working on his latest book, Insights: New Zealand Artists Talk About…
Heartlands: New Zealand Historians Write about Where History Happened Kynan Gentry and Gavin McLean (eds) Penguin, $35.00, ISBN 0143019929 History used to be about kings, queens, politicians, diplomats, generals, wars, revolutions, parliaments, laws and treaties. My early schooling followed the…
Red pen pedants, Anna Rogers
Book editor Anna Rogers on why even the best authors need saving from themselves. For most people, a menu is a list of food choices. For an editor, a menu is a test: can the restaurateurs (not the restauranteurs) spell…
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