Blog Archives

Acting out, Michael Nicolaidi

Posted on December 1, 2007 by NZ Books

Nola Millar: A Theatrical Life Sarah Gaitanos Victoria University Press, $50.00, ISBN 0864735375 Just Who Does He Think He Is? George Webby Steele Roberts, $30.00, ISBN 1877338826 Once upon a time – 40 years ago – a convergence of forces…

Tagged with: Issue 80, Michael (Mike) Nicolaidi, Nola Millar, Sarah Gaitanos, Steele Roberts, Summer 2007, Victoria University Press
Posted in Autobiography, Biography, Non-fiction, Review

Ironic projections, Lawrence Jones

Posted on December 1, 2007 by NZ Books

Small Holes in the Silence: Short Stories Patricia Grace Penguin, $34.99, ISBN 0143020994 Patricia Grace’s new collection, Small Holes in the Silence: Short Stories (her fifth), appeared last year. This was 31 years after Waiariki burst on the scene to…

Tagged with: Issue 80, Lawrence Jones, Patricia Grace, Penguin, Summer 2007
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

At home in Hobbiton and Boy Land, Gavin Bishop

Posted on December 1, 2007 by NZ Books

Gavin Bishop leafs through two boyhood favourites. The three of us are about the same age – my first picture book, my teddy bear and me. The book lies, or should I say languishes, coddled in tissue and plastic to…

Tagged with: Gavin Bishop, Issue 80, Summer 2007
Posted in Imprints

Worlds away, Elspeth Sandys

Posted on December 1, 2007 by NZ Books

Shadow Waters Chris Baker Huia, $27.00, ISBN 1869692357 Black Earth White Bones Chris Else Random House, $27.99, ISBN 9781869418625 Overdue New Releases Matt Johnson Longacre Press, $29.99, ISBN 1877361429 Holocaust Tours Julian Novitz Vintage, $27.99, ISBN 9781869417284 Apart from the…

Tagged with: Chris Baker, Chris Else, Elspeth Sandys, Huia, Issue 80, Julian Novitz, Longacre Press, Matt Johnson, Random House, Summer 2007, Vintage
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review

New Zealand a Christian country? Paul Morris

Posted on December 1, 2007 by NZ Books

Shaping a Colonial Church: Bishop Harper and the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch 1856-1890 Colin Brown, Marie Peters and Jane Teal (eds) Canterbury University Press, $45.00, ISBN 1877257443 James Michael Liston: A Life Nicholas Reid Victoria University Press, $49.95, ISBN 0864735367 …

Tagged with: Bishop Harper, Canterbury University Press, Colin Brown, Issue 80, James Michael Liston, Keith Newman, Marie Peters Jane Teal, Nicholas Reid, Paul Morris, Reed, Summer 2007, Victoria University Press
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Religion, Review

More or less, Linley Boniface

Posted on December 1, 2007 by NZ Books

Opportunity Charlotte Grimshaw Vintage, $27.99, ISBN 9781869418793 On an Island, with Consequences Dire Kelly Ana Morey Penguin, $28.00, ISBN 9780143020950 A newspaper columnist of the cantankerous-old-bastard variety lies in his hospital bed, delirious with pain. As nurses fuss over him,…

Tagged with: Charlotte Grimshaw, Issue 80, Kelly Ana Morey, Linley Boniface, Penguin, Summer 2007, Vintage
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review, Short stories

Getting a handle on it, Paula Morris

Posted on December 1, 2007 by NZ Books

Crown Lynn: A New Zealand Icon Valerie Ringer Monk Penguin, $45.00, ISBN 0143020633 Crown Lynn, Valerie Ringer Monk’s articulate account of New Zealand’s favourite pottery, serves many functions, from appealing coffee-table book to collectors’ guide to a 50-year local history…

Tagged with: Issue 80, Paula Morris, Penguin, Summer 2007, Valerie Ringer Monk
Posted in Art, History, Non-fiction, Review

Extraordinary fortune, Fiona Farrell

Posted on December 1, 2007 by NZ Books

Fiona Farrell expresses thanks for a social system that kept her in good health, taught her to read – and allowed her to write. A couple of years ago I met up with Kevin Ireland at a launch in Christchurch…

Tagged with: Fiona Farrell, Issue 80, Summer 2007
Posted in Byline

Wrighting it, Chris Hilliard

Posted on December 1, 2007 by NZ Books

Two Peoples, One Land: The New Zealand Wars Matthew Wright Reed, $39.99, ISBN 079001064X Military fortifications, like oceanic navigation, the archaeology of New Zealand, and the commercial and maritime policies of the early modern Spanish and Portuguese empires, are a…

Tagged with: Chris Hilliard, Issue 80, Matthew Wright, Reed, Summer 2007
Posted in History, Māori, Non-fiction, Review, War

Seeing as God saw, John McCrystal

Posted on December 1, 2007 by NZ Books

Mr Allbones’ Ferrets: An Historical Pastoral Satirical Scientifical Romance, with Mustelids Fiona Farrell Vintage, $27.99, ISBN 9781869418649 “What a book a devil’s chaplain might write,” Charles Darwin exclaimed in a letter to eminent botanist J D Hooker, “on the clumsy,…

Tagged with: Fiona Farrell, Issue 80, John McCrystal, Summer 2007, Vintage
Posted in Fiction, Literature, Review