Blog Archives

War stories, Anne Else

Posted on December 5, 2014 by NZ Books

Passing Through Coral Atkinson Dancing Tuatara, $35.00, ISBN 9780473262693 Heartland Jenny Pattrick Black Swan, $37.00, ISBN 9781775535850 Tropic of Guile Sue McCauley Xlibris, $42.00, ISBN 9781483683195 All three of these novels centre on hard-won survival against the odds of poverty,…

Tagged with: Anne Else, Black Swan, Coral Atkinson, Dancing Tuatara, Issue 108, Jenny Pattrick, Sue McCauley, Summer 2014, Xlibris
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Writing on the high wire, Sue McCauley

Posted on May 30, 2014 by NZ Books

The Score Adrienne Jansen Escalator Press, $28.00, ISBN 978047325328 The Virgin & the Whale Carl Nixon Vintage, $38.00, ISBN 9781775533757 I’m Working on a Building Pip Adam Victoria University Press, $30.00, ISBN 9780864738981 When more than one book is featured…

Tagged with: Adrienne Jansen, Carl Nixon, Escalator Press, Issue 106, Pip Adam, Sue McCauley, Victoria University Press, Vintage, Winter 2014
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Bovver boys

Posted on December 1, 2011 by NZ Books

What they wrote A taste of contributor comments over our first 20 years On New Zealand Books My hope is that New Zealand Books will provide a forum for frank discussion that dares to rise above the suffocating confines…

Tagged with: Alan Duff, Alan Knowles, Barbara Else, Bernard Carpinter, Bill Manhire, Bill Sewell, Bruce Stewart, Charles Ferrall, Chris Else, Chris Knox, Christopher Tremewan, Colin James, Dale Williams, David Hill, Diane Hebley, Guy Somerset, Hamish Keith, Harry Ricketts, Heather Murray, Hilary Stace, Iain Sharp, Issue 96, Jane Bowron, Jane Stafford, Jane Westaway, John Campbell, Linda Burgess, Linley Boniface, Mark Williams, Murray Edmond, Nelson Wattie, Peter Wells, Roger Robinson, Sue McCauley, Summer 2011, Tom Beard, William Brandt
Posted in Comment

A dollop of literary life, Sue McCauley

Posted on September 1, 2009 by NZ Books

Beside the Dark Pool Fiona Kidman Vintage, $37.99, ISBN 9781869790592 Such a seductive title for a memoir, hinting at murky depths of angst, turmoil and scandal. The stuff we hope, in fact expect, to find in the autobiography of a…

Tagged with: Fiona Kidman, Issue 87, Spring 2009, Sue McCauley, Vintage
Posted in Memoir, Non-fiction, Review

Darts and sledgehammers, Sue McCauley

Posted on December 1, 2008 by NZ Books

Two Little Boys Duncan Sarkies Penguin Books, $28.00, ISBN 9780143020912 Acid Song Bernard Beckett Longacre Press, $29.99, ISBN 9781877460111 Girlie Gillian Ranstead Penguin Books, $28.00, ISBN 9780143010005 “I thought it was one of those boys’ books,” said a friend when…

Tagged with: Bernard Beckett, Duncan Sarkies, Gillian Ranstead, Issue 84, Longacre Press, Penguin Books, Sue McCauley, Summer 2008
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Author as dinner companion, Sue McCauley

Posted on June 1, 2007 by NZ Books

The Cowboy Dog Nigel Cox Victoria University Press, $29.95, ISBN 0864735448 The Fainter Damien Wilkins Victoria University Press, $29.95, ISBN 0864735308 In a way the titles say it all. It’s as if, in naming these novels (Cox’s sixth, Wilkins’ fifth),…

Tagged with: Damien Wilkins, Issue 78, Nigel Cox, Sue McCauley, Victoria University Press, Winter 2007
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

OM – pride of the south, Sue McCauley

Posted on March 1, 2005 by NZ Books

Watch of Gryphons and Other Stories Owen Marshall Vintage, $27.95, ISBN 1869417062 Occasional: 50 Poems Owen Marshall Hazard, $25, ISBN 187727089X In 1979 I reviewed – I think for the New Zealand Listener – a slim book entitled Supper Waltz…

Tagged with: Autumn 2005, Hazard, Issue 69, Owen Marshall, Sue McCauley, Vintage
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Poetry, Review, Short stories

Short lives on earth, Rebecca J Davies

Posted on September 1, 2002 by NZ Books

Life on Earth Sue McCauley Vintage, $26.95, ISBN 1869415493 Water Bernard Steeds Penguin, $27.95, ISBN 0143018353 The Chandrasekhar Limit and other stories Sugu Pillay The Writers Group, price unavailable, ISBN 0473087316 There is a common misconception that big themes require…

Tagged with: Bernard Steeds, Issue 59, Penguin, Rebecca J Davies, Spring 2002, Sue McCauley, Sugu Pillay, The Writers Group, Vintage
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

The age of ignorance, Sue McCauley

Posted on June 25, 2000 by NZ Books

A Dangerous Vine Barbara Ewing Penguin, $29.95, ISBN 0 316 64691 1 In expatriate innocence Barbara Ewing has done what Pakeha writers in this country have learnt they must not do. A novel about race relations, full of colourful Maori…

Tagged with: Barbara Ewing, Issue 43, Penguin, Sue McCauley
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

Limbering up, Anne French

Posted on December 12, 1997 by NZ Books

It could be You Sue McCauley Vintage, $24.95, ISBN 1 86962 008 9 The Mathematics of Jane Austen Elizabeth Smither Godwit, $24.95, ISBN 1 86941 317 2 Remember Me Linda Burgess Otago University Press, $21.95, ISBN 1 877 13335 3…

Tagged with: Anne French, Elizabeth Smither, Godwit, Issue 31, Linda Burgess, Otago University Press, Spring 1997, Sue McCauley, Vintage
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review