Review
Joy of Bliss revisited
Stephen RomeiPeter Carey’s much-loved first novel is coming to the stage — with some restrictions.
Rock star
Justin BurkePlaying a British woman encountering the Australian bush in Picnic at Hanging Rock came naturally to Natalie Dormer.
Lured back to a classic
Graeme BlundellThe reimaging of Peter Weir’s 1975 film is a television triumph.
Our Jess’s Eurovision quest
Justin BurkeAustralian songstress Jessica Mauboy flies the flag for Australia in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with her song We Got Love.
Florence good but not God
GREG SHERIDANThe statue of David was dwarfed by a child waving to his parents and laughing, the sunshine beaming from his face.
Kennedy who needed an alibi
DAVID STRATTONOn Body and Soul is one of the most curious yet appealing romances you’re likely to see.
Maternal instinct
PHILIPPA HAWKERScratch the surface of Jason Reitman’s new film about motherhood and you’ll find themes of loneliness and inadequacy.
Singing as one
ANDREW McMILLENThe paths of Archie Roach and Tiddas continue to cross, more than 20 years down the track.
A song’s touching tale
Andrew McMillenThis week I rediscovered Inanay, a simple 1993 song by Tiddas that wrapped itself around my brain as a child and never left.
Deep mystery, beguiling magic
Ryan Lee West’s post-techno sound has emerged from dark, robotic 80s roots in many wonderful, light-filled directions.
Winds of change
VICTORIA LAURIEAn Australian classic and a contemporary American play are running together so audiences can ponder ‘who are we really?’.
The inside story retold
Christopher AllenInteriors make us ponder the power of objects to evoke life, and the way we surround ourselves with certain objects.
A cabinet named Bruce
Bronwyn WatsonA former student who loved refurbing secondhand furniture found a champion in Ron Radford, and a new career.
This (ticking) life
Sue GebhardtMy bedside clock has gone AWOL. It’s clearly decided to keep time only when it feels like it. This is not helpful.
Groundbreaking Marquez
Stephen RomeiPeter Carey speaks of Gabriel Garcia Marquez as the writer who rewrote the rule book so others could join the game.
Dazzling alchemy
Ashley HayMichael Ondaatje’s new novel once again bears witness to the connections between individuals and the wider world.
Nixon’s destructive power
Stephen LoosleyThe shamed US leader revealed his real self in the White House tapes, and it was as disturbing as it was unedifying.
Mind games worth a thought
Jane McCredie‘I sit among a thousand brains, a thousand brains of the mentally ill,’ writes neuroscientist Barbara Lipska, who also lost her mind.
Science fiction: it’s alive
Michael KitsonTwo hundred years ago a 17-year-old Mary Shelley breathed life into a monster who, culturally, refuses to die.
Defectors on Hermit Kingdom
Derek ParkerNorth Korea is such an unlikely country it might be a parallel dimension: now light has been shed on ordinary lives there.
Tale of an exiled sorceress
Malcolm ForbesCirce is an extended and embellished myth, a story skilfully retold but also artfully reconstructed.
Radio host’s father issues
Louise SwinnThe story of Harvey Beam examines family and commonplace things in a rare, lightly philosophical tone.
Beauty amid the suffering
Simon WestThis is a good guide to Czeslaw Milosz, his writings, and his complex encounters with History, and a pleasure to read.
Agony, hope and persuasion
Felicity PlunkettHazel is becalmed, bothered and drinking a lot of Milo. Then, on a train, she meets Adam.
Carey redux
Tim DouglasPeter Carey’s Bliss has a special place in the hearts of Aussies, particularly Gen Xers: now it’s coming to life onstage.
How the Wimpy Kid cashed in
Rosemary NeillJeff Kinney failed to become a newspaper cartoonist, but consoled himself with 200 million Wimpy Kid book sales over 11 years.
Ride wave to Winton classic
DAVID STRATTONTeenage Pikelet meets a hippy couple: from one he learns the joy of surfing, from the other the joy of sex.
One bite at a time
Staff writersEat the Elephant contains some of A Perfect Circle’s strongest work.
Lost in translation
DEIRDRE MACKENYou don’t have to be a grammar crank to be peeved by the gibberish that’s creeping into advertising.
Return to old haunts
GRAEME BLUNDELLJulia Zemiro serves up a fresh and piquant batch of celebrity interviews in season six of Home Delivery.
On Parkway Drive
Andrew McMillenI remember being in the moshpit with mates and seeing Parkway Drive on the same stage my school’s awards night was held.
Stranger things
Angela LedgerwoodSofija Stefanovic recalls a childhood split between war-torn Yugoslavia and her ‘heaven-country’, Australia.
Love letter
Geordie WilliamsonTsiolkas recalls an enduring truth: Patrick White is a prophet without honour in his own country and among his own kin.
The home advantage
Christopher AllenAfter a triennial in Melbourne and the Sydney Biennale, the Adelaide Biennial turned out to be a rather different experience.
Room with a View
Bronwyn WatsonFor more than 30 years Andrew Sayers was busy running some of Australia’s leading cultural institutions.
Pitching a cricket plan
Harvey MillerWhen a stubborn bully owns the cricket pitch and refuses to accept dismissal, a solution must be found.
Talking to books
Stephen RomeiPublic librarian Annie Spence talks to her books, so much so she’s written a book about her conversations.
Editorial
Carey redux
Tim DouglasPeter Carey’s Bliss has a special place in the hearts of Aussies, particularly Gen Xers: now it’s coming to life onstage.
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Breaking out
Stephen ArmstrongFrom Poldark to an Agatha Christie special, and now a folk album… Eleanor Tomlinson is spreading her wings.
Rock star
Justin BurkePlaying a British woman encountering the Australian bush in Picnic at Hanging Rock came naturally to Natalie Dormer.
Florence good but not God
GREG SHERIDANThe statue of David was dwarfed by a child waving to his parents and laughing, the sunshine beaming from his face.