The Magic Pudding is said to have been written to settle an argument. Norman Lindsay's friend Bertram Stevens said, that children like to read about fairies, while Lindsay asserted that they would rather read about food and fighting. Food and fighting clearly won for October 12 was declared 'Pudding Day' in 2008 in honor of [...]
F. Scott Fitzgerald the author of The Great Gatsby coined the phrase the ‘Jazz Age’ and was known as the Great American Dreamer. If you haven't read the novel you may well have seen the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio. The Great Gatsby is the story of a mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his unrealistic obsession [...]
The rise and fall of Constantinople (Istanbul) the magnificent eastern Roman city that endured for 1000 years must surely be one of history’s great stories. How Richard Fidler managed to break all those years into bite sized chunks and make it accessible is quite astounding. His young son forms part of the narrative following a [...]
I’ve just finished reading these two literary works. One set in Civil War era America and the other in post-WW2. I didn’t set out to read two books on war but these authors are among my fav’s. Varina by Charles Frazier "Civilization balances always on a keen and precarious point, a showman spinning a fine [...]
You would imagine that with eight novels behind me I would slide into the writing of number nine with ease. Practice, an understanding of the fundamentals and an itching to get to know new characters should be enough to spur me on but this book has come slowly. Now nearly 80,000 words on and not [...]
Recently I was invited to chat briefly about my work at Gleebooks in Sydney. The idea behind this video series is to showcase the Sydney Mechanics School of the Arts (SMSA). It's Australia's oldest lending library having started way back in 1833 when reading was high on the list when it came to entertainment, for [...]
It's 1969 and a remote coastal town in Western Australia is poised to play a pivotal part in the moon landing. Exciting stuff, particularly for a galah – yes of the feathered variety, called Lucky. On the outskirts of town sits a giant dish, a piece of vital hardware that becomes a major line of [...]
My Brother Jack. If ever there was a portrait of the changing and fragile relationships in family and particularly between brother’s then this work stands out as one of the best. Set in the suburbs of Melbourne between the two wars George Johnston’s 1964 novel shines a light on the interwar years, introducing us to [...]
Coffee-break Quick Pick: You have to give it to the Nazi's. Not content with stealing every piece of art they could find - think the Monuments Men movie, they turned their attention to the libraries and bookshops of Europe, not burning as many books as we once thought. The Book Thieves: The Nazi Looting of [...]
‘There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around That the colt from [...]
