Blog Archives
Lies, damned lies, and fiction, Mark Broatch
False River Paula Morris Penguin, $35.00 ISBN 9780143771630 A couple of years ago I asked English essayist and novelist Geoff Dyer if he thought a man he and his wife picked up while driving through a desert in the United…
Tagged with: Autumn 2018, Issue 121, Mark Broatch, Paula Morris, Penguin Books
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Pretence and defence, Melinda Johnston
Bromhead: Scratching a Living Peter Bromhead Penguin Books, $38.00, ISBN 9780143574200 In the Cartoon Archive at the Alexander Turnbull Library there is a marvellous ink caricature captioned “The loveable fun-loving Monsieur Bromhead”. Drawn in 2001 by caricaturist Dinah Priestley (a…
Tagged with: Issue 116, Melinda Johnston, Penguin Books, Peter Bromhead, Summer 2016
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Promising softly-spoken wonder, Thom Conroy
The Quiet Spectacular Laurence Fearnley Penguin, $38.00, ISBN 9780143574156 Laurence Fearnley occupies a position somewhere between national treasure and experimental writer. Her depictions of landscapes and her stylistic tendency toward restraint inspire praise, with reviews admiring Fearnley for how markedly…
Tagged with: Issue 115, Laurence Fearnley, Penguin Books, Spring 2016, Thom Conroy
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
With the Second Division, Tony Simpson
A Bloody Road Home: World War Two and New Zealand’s Heroic Second Division Christopher Pugsley Penguin, $70.00 ISBN 9780143571896 It might seem strange that we have had to wait seven decades from the conclusion of WWII for a comprehensive history…
Tagged with: Christopher Pugsley, Issue 115, Penguin Books, Spring 2016, Tony Simpson
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, War
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, War
Telling our stories to ourselves, Chris Else
Jerome Kaino: My Story Jerome Kaino Penguin, $40.00, ISBN 9780143573562 Wildboy Brando Yelavich Penguin, $35.00, ISBN 9780143573159 The Good Doctor Lance O’Sullivan Penguin, $38.00, ISBN 9780143572510 How Bizarre Simon Grigg Awa Press, $38.00, ISBN 9781927249222 Lydia Bradey: Going Up is…
Tagged with: Autumn 2016, Awa Press, Brando Yelavich, Chris Else, Issue 113, Lance O’Sullivan, Laurence Fearnley, Lydia Bradey, Penguin Books, Simon Grigg
Posted in Autobiography, Biography, Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Autobiography, Biography, Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Mingling the sacred and the profane, Martin Edmond
The Penguin Book of New Zealand War Writing Harry Ricketts and Gavin McLean (eds) Penguin Books, $65.00, ISBN 9780143573098 Oddly enough – or perhaps not – when this book arrived at my door I remembered one of the more arcane…
Tagged with: Gavin McLean, Harry Ricketts, Issue 112, Martin Edmond, Penguin Books, Summer 2015
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, War
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, War
Life invisible, Louise Wareham Leonard
The Pale North Hamish Clayton Penguin, $30.00 ISBN 9780143569268 The Pale North, written by 1977 Hawke’s Bay-born Hamish Clayton, is an experiment, a metafiction, a deconstruction, a love letter and an investigation heir to certain writers – the late German…
Tagged with: Hamish Clayton, Issue 112, Louise Wareham Leonard, Penguin Books, Summer 2015
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
The bloody World Cup, John Saker
Inside The Cup: Secrets Behind Our All Black Campaigns Phil Gifford Penguin Books, $40.00 ISBN 9780143573463 The next, as yet unwritten, chapter of this book has just been played out with the All Blacks’ ruthless, successful march through this year’s…
Tagged with: Issue 112, John Saker, Penguin Books, Phil Gifford, Summer 2015
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sport
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Sport
Theory vs practice, Colin Knox
The Intangibles of Managing A J (Tone) Borren Dunmore Press, $29.95 ISBN 0864692390 The New Zealand Small Business Guide Richard Higham and Sara Williams Penguin, $29.95 (revised edition) ISBN 0140132201 Marketing In New Zealand Alyse Boaz Longman Paul, $29.95 ISBN…
Tagged with: A J (Tone) Borren, Alyse Boaz, Colin Knox, Dunmore Press, Issue 24, Longman Paul, Penguin Books, Richard Higham, Sara Williams
Posted in Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Non-fiction, Review
Lucky to survive, Nicholas Butler
Greece Crete Stalag Dachau: A New Zealand Soldier’s Encounters with Hitler’s Army Jack Elworthy Awa Press, $40.00, ISBN 9781927249123 The Lost Pilot: A Memoir Jeffrey Paparoa Holman Penguin, $40.00, ISBN 9780143568766 There is a void at the heart of…
Tagged with: Autumn 2015, Awa Press, Issue 109, Jack Elworthy, Jeffrey Paparoa Holman, Nicholas Butler, Penguin Books
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review