Blog Archives
Letters – Issue 127
Downsizing We hear about the problems of empty nesters, but seldom the difficulties of the bibliophile facing the downsizing of their book collections and the heartache that can ensue. Jane Westaway’s “Cohabiting Libraries” (NZRB Winter 2019) is an apt, amusing…
Lies and damned lies, Gyles Beckford
Truthteller Stephen Davis Exisle Publishing, $30.00, ISBN 9781925335897 “Aren’t we all investigative journalists?” my colleague asked, as we lamented the quality of the coffee at an early hour in the newsroom kitchen. “We’d all like to think so,” I replied.…
Tagged with: Exisle Publishing, Gyles Beckford, Issue 127, Spring 2019, Stephen Davis
Posted in Media, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Media, Non-fiction, Review
Watching the watchers, Ian F Grant
Dead Letters: Censorship And Subversion In New Zealand 1914–1920 Jared Davidson Otago University Press, $35.00, ISBN 9781988531526 Dead Letters contains intriguing detail about a random cast of now-forgotten people who were considered likely subversives in New Zealand during WWI. For…
Tagged with: Ian F Grant, Issue 127, Jared Davidson, Otago University Press, Spring 2019
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, War
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Review, War
Diplomat, translator, academic … Ken Ross
From Cairo To Cassino: A Memoir Of Paddy Costello Dan Davin Cold Hub Press, $25.00, ISBN 9780473474485 Paddy Costello’s forte was Russian scholarship. Dan Davin’s was academic publishing. Each acquired other formidable reputations by which they are better known to…
Tagged with: Cold Hub Pres, Dan Davin, Issue 127, Ken Ross, Paddy Costello, Spring 2019
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Challenging, touching, persuading, Janet Hughes
How I Get Ready Ashleigh Young Victoria University Press, $25.00, ISBN 978176562367 The Dangerous Country Of Love And Marriage Amy Leigh Wicks Auckland University Press, $25.00, ISBN 9781869408978 To The Occupant Emma Neale Otago University Press, $28.00, ISBN 9781988531687 Judging…
Tagged with: Amy Leigh Wicks, Ashleigh Young, Auckland University Press, Emma Neale, Issue 127, Janet Hughes, Otago University Press, Spring 2019, Victoria University Press
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Marking time, Maggie Trapp
When It All Went To Custard Danielle Hawkins HarperCollins, $35.00, ISBN 9781775541417 The Julian Calendar William Henry Marsilio Press, $35.00, ISBN 9780958235556 What a difference a year can make. The plots of Danielle Hawkins’s When It All Went To Custard…
Tagged with: Danielle Hawkins, HarperCollins, Issue 127, Maggie Trapp, Marsilio Press, Spring 2019, William Henry
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Searching for the whole truth, Bill Hastings
Shirley Smith: An Examined Life Sarah Gaitanos Victoria University Press, $40.00, ISBN 9781776562176 In Wellington, it is difficult to find a lawyer, judge, or even a member of the Mongrel Mob of a certain age, who does not have a…
Tagged with: Bill Hastings, Issue 127, Sarah Gaitanos, Spring 2019, Victoria University Press
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review
The Hutt Valley takes Manhattan … Murray Bramwell
Book Of Cohen David Cohen Steele Roberts, $30.00, ISBN 9780947493882 Book Of Cohen is a singular volume with multiple objectives: “This was always going to be a work by one Cohen (that would be me) on another Cohen (that would…
Tagged with: David Cohen, Issue 127, Murray Bramwell, Spring 2019, Steele Roberts
Posted in Essays, Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Posted in Essays, Memoir, Non-fiction, Review
Warning and consolation, Mark Houlahan
Selected Poems Ian Wedde Auckland University Press, $40.00, ISBN 9781869408596 If you dine at Ian Wedde’s, the poetic indications are you’ll eat well. Among the many charms of this seductive, fatly packed Selected Poems are the number of food groups…
Tagged with: Auckland University Press, Ian Wedde, Issue 127, Mark Houlahan, Spring 2019
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Review
Keeping it in the family, Tina Shaw
Necessary Secrets Greg McGee Upstart Press, $38.00, ISBN 9781988516639 Loving Sylvie Elizabeth Smither Allen and Unwin, $37.00, ISBN 9781988547114 Two recently-published novels explore inter-generational stories, yet there couldn’t be two more different treatments. (more…)…
Tagged with: Allen and Unwin, Elizabeth Smither, Greg McGee, Issue 127, Spring 2019, Tina Shaw, Upstart Press
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review