Blog Archives

Bill Sewell: Subtracting the magic

Crik’ey: New and Selected Poems 1978‑1994 Cilla McQueen John McIndoe, $19.95 It is just 12 years since Cilla McQueen burst into the literary world with her collection Homing In. In that time she has published five volumes of poetry, of…
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Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review

Rich and disturbing detail, Lydia Wevers

The Sky People and Other Stories Patricia Grace, Penguin Books, $24.95 The Ace of Diamonds Gang and Other Stories Owen Marshall, John McIndoe, $19.95 The Foreign Woman Fiona Kidman, Vintage, $19.95 All the Tenderness Left in the World Stephanie Johnson,…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

A different planet, Pauline Engel

Breaking the Habit: Life in a New Zealand Dominican Convent 1956-67, Judith Graham, John McIndoe, $24.95 ‘Out in the world …’ used to be a common utterance in convent life. Unconsciously it implied that we inhabited a different planet. Judith…
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Posted in Autobiography, Non-fiction, Religion, Review

Yes, but who let it become so? Colin James

New Zealand’s Constitution in Crisis: Reforming Our Political System Geoffrey Palmer, John McIndoe, $34.95 Electoral Behaviour In New Zealand Martin Holland (ed), Oxford University Press, $29.95 New Zealand Politics in Perspective (3rd Edition) Hyam Gold (ed), Longman Paul, $49.95 Sir…
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Posted in Non-fiction, Politics & Law, Review

Dinosaurs, doctors and daredevils, Dale Williams

Valley of the Dinosaurs: The Story of New Zealand’s Dinosaur Woman Joan Wiffen, Random Century, $19.95 (128 pp) When Joan Wiffen’s husband Pont became too ill to attend his geology night classes, this Hawke’s Bay housewife went in his place…
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Posted in Autobiography, Biography, Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

Big questions: part answers, James Norcliffe

Why Things Fall Chris Else, Tandem, $24.95 Love and War Elspeth Sandys, Vintage, $24.95 Jim’s Elvis Colleen Reilly, John McIndoe, $19.95 Why Things Fall at first glance seems quite a departure from Chris Else’s earlier ficciones, Dreams of Pythagoras (1981).…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Rich repertoire, Lawrence Jones

Tomorrow We Save the Orphans Owen Marshall, John McIndoe, Dunedin, 1992, $24.95 Last year as I was working through a huge box of anonymous entries to the Bank of New Zealand Katherine Mansfield Award competition, I came across an ill‑typed,…
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Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Maritime and general short reviews, Gavin McLean

Waitemata Ferry Tales Sally Fodie, Collins, Auckland, 1991, $19.95 Sally Fodie was the first woman master of an Auckland harbour ferry. Waitemata Ferry Tales, her short collection of nautical anecdotes, shows that it was not easy to elbow her way…
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Posted in Health, Māori, Memoir, Natural History, Non-fiction, Sociology

Gavin McLean: Diverse and shorter reviews

The Great New Zealand Fossil Book: Pictures of Ancient Life in an Evolving Land Ron Brazier, Ian Keyes and Graeme Stevens, DSIR Geology and Geophysics, Wellington, 1990, $49.95 On Shaky Ground: a Geological Guide to the Wellington Metropolitan Region Graeme…
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Posted in History, Natural History, Non-fiction, Review, Sociology

Do they have talent?: they sure have chutzpah, Anne French

Between these Hills Vivienne Plumb (ed), Between these Hills Collective, Wellington, 1991 White Feathers: An Anthology of New Zealand and Pacific Island Poetry on the Theme of Peace Terry Locke, Peter Low and John Winslade (eds), Hazard Press, Christchurch, 1991,…
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Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
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