War Dances
Sherman Alexie
Scribe 2010
ISBN: 9781921640803
$26.95
224 pp
Sherman Alexie is a native American and many of his stories and poems in this collection make this obvious. Other pieces ignore it completely. He sometimes refers to himself as a “part-time Indian”. He treats his ancestry with humour and lightness, while also exposing the mistreatment of natives by others and the pain this brings. (more…)
Speaking Volumes: Conversations with remarkable writers
Ramona Koval
ISBN: 9781921640612
$35 417 pp
Scribe 2010
The name and voice of Ramona Koval are well known to many Australians as the presenter of the long-running ABC Radio National program The Book Show, where she interviews many writers and talks about their work and about writing generally. She is passionate about what she does and adds to this an intelligence and compassion that makes listening to her and her guests a pleasure. She is so good at what she does that she is frequently invited to moderate discussions and conduct interviews with writers around the world. (more…)
The Vitamin D Solution
Michael F Holick
Scribe 2010
ISBN: 9781921640520
$35
336 pp including bibliography and index
At the outset I need to declare a possible conflict of interest: I work part-time for a company in Melbourne that manufactures vitamin D supplements in oral and injectable form. However, that, and my sixteen years working for the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, gives me the knowledge and insight to read this book intelligently and review it. (more…)
Sarah’s Last Wish: a chilling glimpse into forced medicine
Eve Hillary
2010
ISBN: 9780980662900
$29.95
348 pp with images + references
I have found this book very difficult to read, because it is so well written. It is the subject of the book that has gripped me by the throat and made breathing difficult. Eve Hillary is a masterful storyteller and this book is a fine tribute to a courageous girl and her family and a powerful condemnation of professional incompetence and negligence, unethical behaviour and bureaucratic excesses. (more…)
The Quest for Justice
Ken Crispin
Scribe 2010
ISBN: 9781921640438
$35
290 pp + notes
This is above all a thoughtful work. The author assumes the reader to be intelligent and he treats the reader with respect. It is not a dispassionate book – Ken Crispin’s hopes and aspirations for society are clearly stated. He also expresses little patience with those who would impose their prejudices and bigotry on others. (more…)
If I loved you, I would tell you this
Robin Black
Scribe, Melbourne, 2010
ISBN: 9781921640421
PB, 268 pp $32.95
This is very welcome addition to my short story collections shelf.
It has been said that, while in a novel there is a need for a plot and the development of characters, the short story need be no more than just that: a fragment of life, an interesting tale with a cameo of characters. Then you come across a writer like Robin Black and you learn that a short story can be a novel in miniature. (more…)
Etchings Indigenous: Black and Sexy
(anthology)
Ilura Press, Melbourne, 2010
ISBN: 9781921325137
PB, 176 pp
There is an underlying tension in this collection of work by Aboriginal writers and artists, that reflects the real tension between Aborigines and the wider community in Australia. This wider community is certainly not homogeneous, with its sometimes disparate ethnic groups, the result of waves of migration from different parts of the world. I myself was part of such a wave in 1955. As a society, we manage to eventually feel fairly comfortable with each ‘new’ ethnic group that comes to this country. We accept the differences or cease to notice them. (more…)
Author: Peter Ralph
Publisher: Melbourne Books, 2007
ISBN: 9781877096952
RRP $24.50,
This is a story that needs to be told again and again. The avarice and self-serving attitudes of the principle character are depicted graphically and chillingly. People like Douglas Aspine should be locked up as quickly as possible and ‘re-educated’, before they can do more harm. (more…)
Published by Melbourne Books
ISBN: 9781877096660
RRP: $28.59
The reason I’m keen to include this review is that one of my stories is included.
This is the first of what Melbourne Books plans to be an annual publication.
The publisher looked at over a hundred stories and bush poems which had won awards around Australia in the past year and then chose twenty-six of these to showcase some of the best writing being produced in this country. (more…)
