Blog Archives
Scented Laurence Fearnley Penguin, $38.00 ISBN 9780143773283 If technology and price allowed, Scented would have made a fantastic “scratch and sniff” novel. As it is, the pitfalls of first-person narration make this a challenging read, and I finished the book…
Volume 29 | Number 4 | Issue 128 | Summer 2019 Letters C K Stead: “91 Woodstock Road” (poem) Thom Conroy: Elizabeth Knox, The Absolute Book Elizabeth Crayford: Laurence Fearnley, Scented John McCrystal: Craig Cliff, Nailing Down The Saint Lydia…
Costello errors Despite its brevity, Ken Ross’s article on Dan Davin’s memoir of Paddy Costello (NZRB Spring 2019) contains a quite remarkable number of factual errors. By my count, there are 18 – there may be others beyond my ken,…
Promises Promises: 80 Years Of Wooing New Zealand Voters Claire Robinson Massey University Press, $60.00, ISBN 9780995109544 When Jacinda Ardern stated in 2017 that, if elected, Labour would move to “abolish child poverty”, this resonated as an ambitious goal, enlightened,…
The Political Years Marilyn Waring Bridget Williams Books, $40.00, ISBN 9781988545936 The cover of Marilyn Waring’s book The Political Years shows a telling photograph of the 1979 National Party caucus in the Beehive: row upon row of suited men, with…
The Absolute Book Elizabeth Knox Victoria University Press, $35.00, ISBN 9781776562305 The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox is a Ronsardian ode to worldbuilding. Who creates worlds? What connects them? Who controls them? These questions shape the novel’s plot, subject and…
A Communist In The Family Elspeth Sandys Otago University Press, $40.00, ISBN 9781988531601 Families are complicated things. Members don’t necessarily agree with one another, or even like one another; relationships can be strained, or snapped, then re-made across the years.…
Nailing Down The Saint Craig Cliff Penguin Random House, $38.00, ISBN 9780143773740 Those familiar with Craig Cliff’s work will know that he is fond of a kooky premise – a starting-off point that allows him to tread the blurred line…
Science Fiction: A Review Of Speculative Fiction: Special Double Issue Featuring Phillip Mann (Vol 19, Nos 1-2) Van Ikin (ed) $AUD30.00 ISSN 03146677 A special double issue of a well-regarded journal, plus full-page authorial cover photo, is a handsome tribute…
Frances Hodgkins: European Journeys Catherine Hammond and Mary Kisler (eds) Auckland University Press, $75.00, ISBN 9781869408930 Finding Frances Hodgkins Mary Kisler Massey University Press, $45.00, ISBN 9780995102972 You reach a certain age and your favourite artists and writers start invading…
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