‘I wanted to give up on being a musician so bad’: Chad Lawson
Pianist, podcaster and composer Chad Lawson, 49, on the joy of waiting tables and touring with Julio Iglesias.
Review
Brothers’ grim toil for peace
Sally Rooney’s new novel Intermezzo displays the maturity and flair of the beloved Irish author
What can I do about Metro-envy?
Deirdre Macken laments being outside the catchment of the latest extensions to Sydney’s metro system.
Giants of prehistory
An episode of the palaeontology podcast ExtinctZoo calls prehistoric Australia “pure nightmare fuel” and “The Land of Nope”.
Exposing the art of artifice
Hiroshi Sugimoto’s painstaking photography challenges us by experimenting with the dimensions of time and space.
In excess: Keith Urban’s musical highs amid hard-earned sobriety
It’s easy to look at him and see a man who appears to have it all, including a movie star wife — a fine recipe for writing off an artist who’s long been one of Australia’s most successful musical exports. This, however, is a mistake.
My mother survived the Holocaust. I never thought I’d need a bodyguard
After being offered security for an appearance at a local writers’ festival, Rachelle Unreich was reminded that her mother’s lessons are more important and relevant than ever in the face of rising anti-Semitism.
Demi Moore’s performance in this thriller is career-defining
Demi Moore, who started her film career in 1981, is astonishing in scene after scene, her body juxtaposed with the – let’s say unconventional – things she is doing.
Keith Urban gets High on his euphoric love of music
This album’s roadtrip aesthetic follows a timeworn formula: it demands to be played loud while you sing the choruses with the windows down as you travel to new places.
The enduring brilliance of Les Murray
For the moment, Les Murray is still with us, still that same sprawling, shambling, magnificent man of Australian letters — not yet passed into the slipstream of memory. But there’s no telling how he’ll be remembered in a century’s time.
Laughing in the face of evil
Malcolm Knox’s novel The First Friend is set in the Soviet Union and its offshoot Georgia in 1938. It may be his best book yet.
How women who take small loans can end up jailed
Microloans were sold as the savior of poor women in developing countries, but all has not gone to plan.
Christian White’s latest novel has a plot twist so good, you’ll think it’s a printing error
The Nowhere Child catapulted Christian White to literary stardom in 2018, followed by The Wife and the Widow and Wild Place. All are nailbiters, but his latest offering should come with a mandatory neck brace.
Jane Schoenbrun on their gut-punch trans horror
“Growing up, the art I cared for was the primary emotional relationship in my life,” says the director of I Saw the TV Glow, a coming-of-age story about two dysphoric teens searching for identity through the screen.
The king of cosy crime expands his empire
British TV presenter and novelist Richard Osman, of best-selling The Thursday Murder Club fame, has temporarily parked the adventures of retirees for a new series. It’s laugh-out-loud funny.
New film proves you’re never too old to take on the crooks
With veteran actor June Squibb, 94, in the lead role, Thelma is Mission: Impossible on mobility scooters, with a soundtrack to match.
In another country
As JD Vance possibly races towards the White House, there’s another Appalachian tale worth revisiting in this moment.
The man who composed poetry so bad it got him transported
Australia’s first – and to this point, only – Poet Laureate was a man of undeniable industry but without talent to match. Though his gifts were limited, there’s a reason we’re returning to his story.
Test your general knowledge
Which two actors portrayed cowboys Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist in the film Brokeback Mountain? Pit your wits against Review’s resident Quizmaster.
The true story of a heart shared between two children
Heart-rending doesn’t begin to cover the scene of Joe Ball, standing outside the ambulance bay as his daughter’s heart speeds away from him forever.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/page/2