Culture
Books
Simon set out to walk the entire length of the Brisbane River. Then the rains came
A 344-kilometre journey during the 2022 floods proved an education, to say the least. Here’s what author Simon Cleary learnt.
- by Nick Dent
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Opinion
WordPlay
I watched it for research. So was I unsatisfied or dissatisfied with The Fall Guy?
Who says you can’t have fun with words at the multiplex?
- by David Astle
Who was really to blame for the failure of Scott’s Antarctic expedition?
More than a century after Captain Robert Scott’s Antarctica expedition, the reasons for disastrous outcome are still fiercely debated by the explorer’s devotees.
- by Dennis Glover
This republished classic captures the intensity of young love
First published in 1980, Beverley Farmer’s debut novel, Alone, reminds the reader how hard it was to be queer in Australia in the 1950s.
- by Vanessa Francesca
An intricately woven novel straddling war, love and friendship
Catherine McKinnon’s sprawling new novel, To Sing of War, interweaves several stories against the backdrop of World War II.
- by Flynn Benson
This First Nations futurist novel features seamless world building
Ambelin Kwaymullina’s new novel blends fantasy, sci-fi, thriller and First Nations folklore to bring readers into a world of corruption and deceit.
- by Jessie Tu
The late Jurassic Park author’s final book gets a roaring release
Our reviewers cast their eyes over new fiction and non-fiction releases including the late Michael Crichton’s Eruption, completed by thriller writer James Patterson and a memoir of hidden sexuality in Victorian-era regional Australia.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
Cancel culture is a boogeyman: feminist author Roxane Gay
The Bad Feminist author, who will appear in Melbourne and Sydney later this year, on progress for women, Trump and being recognised in public.
- by Cassidy Knowlton
One hundred years since his death, this author is a must-read more than ever
Indeed, posterity has paid Kafka the greatest tribute a writer can receive. His name has become an adjective.
- by David Free
Fame, glamour and tragedy: Griffin Dunne’s touching memoir
The actor, writer and producer’s memoir is a warm portrait of an unusual – and celebrity-filled – upbringing.
- by Miriam Cosic
Sheila Heti gets playful and philosophical in her scrambled diaries
As part of her ongoing investigation into her own life and art, Sheila Heti’s new book is composed of sentences taken from her diaries, arranged alphabetically.
- by Jane Gleeson-White