Readings.com.au: Carlton

ASRC Calendars

2008-12-03T00:00:00Z

If you are looking for a calendar for 2009, take a look at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Calendar.

Now in its third year, the calendar includes beautiful artwork by well-known Australian artists and all proceeds go to the resource centre.

The centre campaigns for social justice improvements for asylum seekers, as well as helping them negotiate life in this crazy new world. You can find out more about their programs from the website, you might even like to get involved.

Say When...A New Deveny Collection

2008-12-01T00:00:00Z

If you enjoy your weekly fix of Catherine Deveny's acerbic wit, then this is the book for you. Say When is a collection of her best Age columns of the year plus some previously unpublished work as well. From Sam Newman to Sarah Palin, 'Ugly Chicks' to cosmetic surgery, Deveny's got it covered.

And if you just can't get enough, we've got last year's collection as well: It's Not My Fault They Print Them.

The Zurau Aphorisms

2008-11-29T00:00:00Z

Roberto Calasso has rediscovered Kafka's original notebooks and laid his thoughts out as Kafka intended in this lovely little hardback:

With a very strong light, one can make the world disappear. Before weak eyes it will become solid; before still weaker eyes, it will acquire fists; and to eyes yet weaker, it will be embarrassed and punch the face of anyone who dares to look at it.

3CR Calendar Launch

2008-11-27T00:00:00Z

The team from 3CR were in fine form last week at the launch of their calendar for 2009, which features Australian political poster art from the last 30 years.

A supportive crowd sent it out into the world, promoting their special brand of community activism and alternative current affairs.

Dostoevsky: from God to DIY

2008-11-27T00:00:00Z

While Rowan Williams has been studying Dostoevsky to help him explain the existence of God (see previous post), Mark Crick has been getting inside the great author's head for a little D.I.Y.: yes, do-it-yourself bathroom design!

This time last year, Granta published Kafka's Soup: A Complete History of Literature in 17 Recipes. Crick's recipes are written in the voices of famous authors from Homer to Irvine Welsh and illustrated in the style of artists from Hogarth to Hockney. His combination of authorial voice and artistic mimicry are witty and irreverent.

In this second book, Sartre's Sink, Crick writes D.I.Y. projects from 'Hanging Wallpaper with Ernest Hemingway' to 'Painting A Panelled Door with Anais Nin'. Is there anything mores sexy than painting? In 'Tiling a Bathroom with Fyodor Dostoevsky', a young man has an existential crisis while trying to tile a bathroom with garden tools.

Crick promises a gardening collection for the final in the series, 'Milking a Cow with Thomas Hardy' perhaps?

The Chaser signing their Chaser Annual

2008-11-25T00:00:00Z

Wednesday 10 December 2008 at 12:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

Memebers of the Chasers will be at Carlton signing their new book - The Chaser Annual 2008.

The God Debate

2008-11-23T00:00:00Z

Over the last couple of years, the atheists seem to have had the upper hand in the God debate, certainly in the number of books I've seen coming through the shop. From Michel Onfray's Atheist Manifesto to Richard Dawkins' God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens' Portable Atheist, they have left us in no doubt as to their thoughts on the matter (or lack there of). In a similar vein, Robert L. Park's new book Superstition challenges what he sees as the continuing persistence of our ill-founded belief in the supernatural in all its forms.

Enter a fascinating new book by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, called Dostoevsky: Language, Faith and Fiction. The obvious question, is how and why Williams turns to literature to explain the faith? How can fiction expose the truth of God?

In Dostoevsky, Williams finds "the question of the context from which we derive values is the most serious life-and-death question we could possibly articulate". He argues that the anxieties we face today - terrorism, child abuse, sexualisation of culture - are all present in Dostoevsky who continually struggles with the dilemma of how to define a moral stance without recourse to God. This is dense reading (I confess to finding much of his argument difficult to grasp) but it certainly brings an interesting challenge to the debate.

I must go back and re-read The Brothers Karamazov...

An Australian in Paris

2008-11-20T00:00:00Z

Australian travel memoirs are evolving beyond the simple narrative into beautiful objects in their own right.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Carla Coulson, the Australian author of the beautiful photographic journal Italian Joy. She came in to the store and signed some copies of her new book Paris Tango, another wonderfully tactile book published by Lantern (they do the fabulous high-end cook books - Cook's Companion, Maggie's Harvest etc).

In Paris Tango Carla explores her new home through evocative words and images that will make you wish you were there. From the Moulin Rouge to the Marais, Paris is revealed in all its romantic beauty. For everyone who has been to, or dreamed of, the City of Light, this book will take them there.

Four Minutes

2008-11-18T00:00:00Z

Can four minutes erase the shame of the past?

In this powerful, multi-layered film by Chris Kraus, an almost suffocating silence makes the musical score all the more compelling.

An elderly piano teacher at a German prison forms a unique bond with a young and violent murderer, who is also a brilliant musician.

Traude has condemned herself to teaching at the prison for a wrong she has done in the past. Jenny is condemned by a cycle of violence that has destroyed her future.

Jenny is given the choice between music and solitary confinement and an uneasy truce develops between them.

The unyielding prison environment exacts its revenge, but not before a few minutes in which the pain of the past is transformed by the power of music and friendship.

Oz fiction 2008

2008-11-16T00:00:00Z

As the publishing year reaches its climax and I start thinking about what I'm going to buy everyone for Christmas (yeah, they all get books - tragic really...) I started going back through the Readings newsletters for 2008 and discovered over 60 new Australian fiction titles. WOW!

It's an exciting time in Australian publishing. Melbourne has recently been named an international 'City of Literature' based on the quality and diversity of publishing and the broader interaction with community through avenues such as education and events. As part of this process, a Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas will open in mid-2009 at the State Library to encourage creative interaction between writers, readers and the wider community. We look forward to an exciting new literary future.

Meanwhile, there have been some real success stories this year, with Steve Toltz debut novel being shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the continued success of Nam Le's short-story collection The Boat.

There are beautifully crafted new novels by some of our most accomplished authors, including Time Winton, Kate Grenville and Debra Adelaide. Renowned children's author John Marsden has turned theatre into prose in his reimagining of Hamlet. Helen Garner and Joan London have published novels after long breaks that distill the essence of friendship, family and commitment in contemporary Australia. Christos Tsiolkas confronts head-on the undercurrents and hypocrises in modern families today with The Slap.

Our Australian love affairs with the highway and the beach have been variously plundered in the short-story collections The Penguin Book of the Road and Robert Drewe's new collection The Rip. Michael Williams has rounded up a decade of 'creative chaos' from the National Young Writers' Festival in Herding Kites.

Newly-published authors have created works that span history, culture and modern life: from Kevin Rabalais' reimagining of the Burke and Wills myth; to Ali Alizadeh's evocation of life in war-torn Iran; and Vogel Award-winning Stefan Laszczuk's exploration of dysfunctional modern life in I Dream of Magda. There is also my favourite debut, The Lifeboat by Zacharey Jane, a beautiful, poetic fable about a young immigration official on an unnamed island who tries to discover the identity of two strangers found adrift in a lifeboat with no memory of who they or each other might be. As their histories begin to take shape, so does her sense of identity and belonging.

And the list goes on...check out our collection of new titles for 2008.

So when you are looking for a gift, an absorbing summer read or a dip into another world, take a look at some of these great new Australian novels.

Lygon St Festa

2008-11-14T00:00:00Z

Put on your best Sophia Loren sunglasses and head down to the Lygon St Festa this weekend. Restaurants and cafes will spill out into the streets, there are events across three stages and a new show on at La Mama. Check out the full event program at the Festa website and make a day of it.

In the spirit of the Festa, Readings is show-casing a gorgeous new book by Michael Harden. Simply called Lygon St, it is a beautifully produced collection of memories, recipes and photos from this iconic part of Melbourne.

Eat, drink, be entertained and reminisce...what are your fond memories of Lygon St?

Ad Nauseum

2008-11-13T00:00:00Z

The poet Martial described Rome as magna taberna or one big shop, so says Lorna Robinson in her eclectic new collection of latin phrases, Ad Nauseum. Poor old Martial clearly hadn't been to Readings at Christmas, now there is ONE BIG SHOP.

This is a lovely little hardback collection, that locates the origins of some latin phrases that are in regular use and others you may never have heard.

My favourite is from Petronius - pisces natare oportet. Translated literally it means 'fish need to swim' and he used it to encourage guests at dinner to enjoy the wine.

Which brings us nicely to a reminder about Readings' Shopping Nights - at all stores next Wednesday November 19. The perfect opportunity to visit magna taberna, get all that Christmas shopping done in one spot, and partake of a glass of wine because pisces natare oportet.

confessions of a compilation junkie

2008-11-07T00:00:00Z

I have a confession to make. I’m a big fan of the compilation CD.

Anything with the ‘Best of’ or ‘The Essential’ or ‘The Greatest’ in the title is guaranteed to get my attention. I love everything about them. I love how the Best of the 60s can squeeze an entire 10 years into a 2-disc set. Who knew it would only take 30 songs to sum up an entire decade?

Better still are the compilation discs that cover musical styles. I have at home a 3-disc disco compilation. It’s great! It really is! But I think 3 discs might be more disc then disco, because once I had gotten it home and torn off its very secure security plastic, I took a closer look at the track listing. Gloria Gaynor was there (ahhh...where would disco be without Gloria?) as was Earth Wind and Fire, but shoved in between Diana Ross and The Pointer Sisters were the Black Eyed Peas and the Pussycat Dolls. HUH? I love it! My Disco Hits CD was like a musical Kinder Surprise. Dark chocolate (Barry White), white chocolate (Lionel Richie) and a surprise! (Vanilla Ice. No really...Vanilla Ice was on my disco CD).

Similarly I have a Power Ballad compilation at home with a Shakira track hidden in there. Obviously I could never own an actual Shakira album and stay at the supreme level of cool I’m clearly at, but if a few of her songs just happen to be on several different CDs that I just happen to own...well...I can’t help that, can I?

If you forced me to, I would admit that the compilation CD, if not prepared correctly, can be a less-than-cool thing and in the interest of presenting a fair and even argument I will offer an example of someone breaking one of only 2 compilation CD rules. This uses the example of a single band compilation (as opposed to the era/style compilation). They’re usually called ‘The Essential’ or ‘Singles of’.

If you have released more than 5 CDs you have earned the right to release a 'Best of' CD. A few years ago now Savage Garden, who made it to a grand total of 2 albums before breaking up released a 'Best of' CD. If the words One Hit Wonder have ever been used to describe your career you shouldn’t be thinking about a 'Best of' album...maybe you should consider getting a trade or something. You need to move on!

And in case you’re wondering, the other rule of the compilation CD is: Original Artists Only!!!

I’m using a pseudonym to write this, if my wonderful co-workers here at Readings were to discover my love of the common compilation CD I’d be eating my lunch by myself for the next few years.

PS. We don't have any disco hits in store, but I was able to put a few compilations together - checkout the collection by clicking on Radiohead's Best Of. -- Michelle

Breakdowns - A Portrait of Spiegelman

2008-11-04T00:00:00Z

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Maus comes this new graphic memoir Breakdowns : Portrait of the Artist As a Young %@&!.

In Maus, Spiegelman depicts his Jewish parents' escape from Nazi Germany and the effect it had on his own life. It's a ground-breaking, powerful and chilling story that portrays the Nazis as cats and the Jews as mice.

In Breakdowns, Spiegelman muses on life, his art (his book of his comics, also called Breakdowns was published in 1977) and the future for his children (third-generation Nazi survivors).

This collection is in a large format hardback with great production quality and will be perfect for the comic book collector or aspiring graphic novelist.

bargain space race

2008-11-01T00:00:00Z

And something from Readings famous bargain table

Andrew, our resident Russian enthusiast and store manager, pointed out Kosmos: a fascinating photographic record of the Russian Space Race. It contains over 100 images by Adam Bartos, who records the faces and places central to Russia's program.

Bartos illuminates the realities of life in Russia during this particular era, focusing on the living and working environments of the people involved, more than the technology.

One particularly evocative photo is of three women, obviously scientists, but who look like simple, cardigan-clad 1950s mums, pouring over some rather sophisticated piece of rocket wizadry in a room that vaguely looks like the far corner of the school hall.

The photographic reproduction is of a really high quality and provides us with a fascinating glimpse into a historic moment in time.

For more treasures from the bargain table, check out the bargain page.

Prose, Poetry and Song

2008-10-30T00:00:00Z

One of the best things about working at Readings is meeting and talking to the passionate staff who have such a wide variety of interests. Today Smiljana told me about some of her books of the moment:

Tree of Smoke, which has just come out in small-format paperback, is Denis Johnson's National-Book-Award winning fictional foray into the life of an American serviceman in Vietnam. Not particularly interested in the subject matter, Smiljana was overwhelmed by the first few pages: a powerful and beautifully written story that is difficult to put down.

Next stop was an investigation into the complex and emotionally intense poems of Louise Gluck in her 2007 collection Averno. Named for the small crater lake in southern Italy regarded by the ancient Romans as entrance to the underworld, Averno charts a mythological journey through modern life.

And back on local soil, Songlines is Bruce Chatwin's exploration into Aboriginal Dreamtime and the social and cultural codes that it defines. Smiljana found it fascinating, though Jason, another staff member who has spent time living and working in Aboriginal communities, pointed to some problems he had with Chatwin's conclusions - a whole other conversation.

So next time you're in the store, don't be afraid to ask any of our staff for help or a recommendation - you never know quite where it might take you...

John Clarke

2008-10-29T00:00:00Z

Saturday 13 December 2008 at 2:00pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

For 20 years, Bryan Dawe has been trying to get some sense out of John Clarke. In 1987, John and Bryan began to broadcast on radio a series of weekly interviews in which prominent and newsworthy figures spoke openly about issues of the day. This noble public service soon took to television screens, where their weekly report has brought a welcome splash of colour to the week’s events for over two decades.

To celebrate this milestone, Text is publishing the very best of these interviews in one volume for the first time titled The Catastrophe Continues: 21 Years of Interviews. All the stars of the era are here: Hawke, Keating, Kennett, Howard, Costello, Latham, Ruddock, Rudd. John, as the prominent or newsworthy figure, deals with matters as he sees fit. Bryan persists with dignity and strives for understanding.

Free, no need to book.

Reading Matters

2008-10-27T00:00:00Z

Reading Matters is a fascinating look at some of the most treasured book collections throughout the last five centuries, inlcuding those of Samuel Pepys and Thomas Jefferson. It examines the changing face of marketing by booksellers and publishers and how this once luxury item was transformed for the mass-market. The author, Margaret Willes is an historian and publisher, lately at the National Trust. Illustrated in black and white throughout, and including an 8-page colour insert, it is a wonderful edition for your own personal library.

how cover bands became samplers

2008-10-25T00:00:00Z

Paul Miller aka DJ Spooky drew an avid crowd into the store last week to hear about his new book, Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture.

Including an essay by Jonathen Lethem on plagiarism, the collection has contributions by novelists, musicians and digital artists who examine how sampling has evolved within and across the genres and reaches out into everyday life.

BBQ Season

2008-10-23T00:00:00Z

It's time to get out and enjoy the sunshine and Ben O'Donoghue of Surfing the Menu fame gives you some great reasons to stoke up the barbie.

He was in Carlton last week to sign a few copies of his new cookbook Outdoor. It looks great, feels great and the recipes offer you servings of sunshine from all over the world.