‘The funniest writer of a generation who forgot to laugh’
She skewers cancel culture and identity politics and got advice from cancelled comedian Louis CK when writing her latest novel. Is it any wonder local publishers found her too hot to handle?
Books
How privileged students avoided lockdown
In July 2021, Sydney was in the grip of its worst Covid-19 outbreak. Home schooling was pushing many to breaking point – but children at elite private schools were having an entirely different experience.
Trans celebration dodges facts to push dangerous views
American gender studies scholar Judith Butler – Camille Paglia 2.0, without the Italianate drama – is the new campus definition of hip. While this isn’t a crime, it is a warning.
Canada’s ‘own Chekhov’ dies at 92
Alice Munro, the Nobel Prize-winning author known for her mastery of the short story, has died at 92.
Can you compare the Holocaust and Hiroshima?
Atrocities in the East and West are linked by the extraordinary figure of St Maximilian Kolbe, who died a martyr’s death at the hands of the Nazis.
What to read this week
Naked ladies and law reform feature in this week’s list of Notable Books.
Does anyone buy books anymore?
A substacker crunches the numbers. Plus, two old, old friends start their writing careers, and more news from the world of books.
How to spend Mother’s Day on a Queensland cattle property
Amy Ballinger, founder of Wattle & Twine, lives on a 1000ha farm in the Western Downs with her husband and three young kids. How will she spend her Sunday?
The dark story of ‘gentlemen collectors’ in Tasmania
The anthropologist Bill Stanner characterised this country’s history of colonisation and settlement as the ‘great Australian silence’. The term is doubly appropriate for the underground trade in Aboriginal remains.
Novelist combined murder mystery with the Tudor dynasty
CJ Sansom overcame a troubled childhood to produce the best-selling Shardlake novels.
Voice succeeds after all: guide judged best book of the year
A handbook designed to bring out the Yes voice in the voice referendum is the book industry’s Book of the Year, with Hedley Thomas and Trent Dalton also taking out prizes | FULL LIST
Xi’s aggressive intent for China and the world — in his words
Xi Jinping’s imagined ‘tianxia’ – China presiding over ‘all under Heaven’ – would constitute an enormous regression. None of us should want any part of it – least of all those of us who live in liberal democracies.
Lightning tragedy ignited obsession with ‘randomness’
Paul Auster, a charismatic novelist, memoirist and screenwriter, was lauded for his postmodernist fiction, most famously The New York Trilogy.
Our food system is poisoning us, but is a drug the answer?
Johann Hari says he cured his fast food fetish with Ozempic, but now calls it ‘potential poison’
Margaret Tucker’s painful memories, as she wrote them
The Indigenous activist/writer’s memoir was heavily edited before being released in 1977. Read an extract from the intact version just now published.
Di Morrissey’s love lost
The great Di Morrissey’s husband always kept the Champagne on ice until the book was finished. But not this year.
What to read this week
True crime, ghost cities and whales feature in this week’s list of Notable Books to read this week.
Twice winning and not shy with answers
Alexis Wright has become the first person to twice win the Stella Prize for Literature and says she is not too shy to take questions from the floor at the Melbourne Writers Festival, even on the tricky Israel-Palestine question.
Hidden universe where men run on narcotics, porn and sugar
In the far western suburbs of Melbourne, servo work is popular. David Goodwin worked the graveyard shift for six years – and has a gritty tale to tell.
US novelist Auster dies at 77
Author gained cult status in the 1980s and 90s with his New York Trilogy of metaphysical mysteries and his hip film Smoke.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/books/page/12