Gift Ideas for Media Junkies and Politicos

giftsmediapol May we live in interesting times, or so the saying goes. War, climate change, the digital, multiculturalism, revolution, dumbed-down politics and terror – these are just some of the issues that have defined the past few years. Here, you’ll find a wealth of publications that interrogate and question, document and reflect enough to satisfy even the most dedicated news buff, as picked by Readings staff.

Iphigenia in Forest Hills: Anatomy of a Murder Trial Janet Malcolm

Journalist and writer Janet Malcolm returns with another elegant and disquieting study in Iphigenia in Forest Hills. Like her earlier, brilliant work, The Journalist and the Murderer (‘Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible’), this is a book about the law and its hand in the creation of truth. In it, Malcolm follows the joint murder trial of Mazoltuv Borukhova, a young doctor and mother, and Mikhail Mallayev, the man she allegedly hired to kill her estranged husband, Daniel Malakov, who had recently won custody of their daughter, Michelle. The book is written with Malcolm’s typical precision and intellect, which over the years has won her many admirers (Helen Garner included), and is a must for anyone craving a serious examination of our times and their institutions. - Jessica Au, Readings St Kilda

After Words
P.J. Keating

Ah yes, you’ve guessed right, P.J. is in fact one Paul Keating, and this generous hardback is the ultimate collection of his post-Prime Ministerial speeches and writings. The book moves effortlessly over a range of topics – from the arts to the global financial crisis, as well as the history wars, asylum seekers, our future as a Republic and yes, of course, politics. Regardless of your views on any of these topics, it is clear that Keating has lost none of his vision, intellect or verbal spar – a worthy addition of any politically-orientated bookshelf. - Jessica Au, Readings St Kilda

Essays on Muslims and Multiculturalism
Raimond Gaita (ed)

A collection of essays that speaks directly and clearly to the fears and prejudices of a post-September 11 world. Philosopher and writer Raimond Gaita has gathered together some our best essayists and thinkers to share their opinions on what it means to be a multicultural nation in the 21st century, where wedge politics and rhetoric run rife: Waleed Aly examines the role of the media in anti-Islamic myth-making, Shakira Hussein casts an eye over Australia’s immigration policy, and Geoffrey Brahm Levey writes on multiculturalism and the war on terror itself. - Jessica Au, Readings St Kilda

Sideshow
Lindsay Tanner

Political junkies will be enthralled by this book. Former ALP minister Lindsay Tanner delivers a scathing analysis of the ‘sideshow’ that passes for political coverage these days and the way that any serious analysis is swamped by reporting of politics as sport, or politics as press stunts. When NYU professor (and international expert on the media) Jay Rosen visited Melbourne in August, he was besotted by this book, which he thought was spot-on. - Jo Case, Readings Monthly Editor

Read our review

An Unwinnable War: Australia in Afghanistan
Karen Middleton

An Unwinnable War charts the motives and ambitions that carried Australia into Afghanistan: from then Prime Minister John Howard's alliance with Washington to the 'transition' plans to hand security to Afghan forces - all played out in the wake of increasing casualties. Based on interviews with key political and military figures, SBS journalist Karen Middleton brings her skill and voice to the tensions between political and military decision-making and how our longest military conflict came to be. - Jessica Au, Readings St Kilda

Panic
David Marr
This is a book about fear and phobia and how it has come to define our outlook today. From Cronulla to Pauline Hanson, native title, Dr Haneef and asylum seekers, journalist and author David Marr turns his scathing insight onto the games played by both government and media. One quote says it all: 'Turning fear into panic is a great political art: knowing how to stack the bonfire, where to find the kindling, when to slosh on a bucket of kero to set the whole thing off with a satisfying roar … These are dispatches from the republic of panic, stories of fear and fear-mongering under three prime ministers. Some chart panic on the rise and others pick through the wreckage left behind, but all grew out of my wish to honour the victims of these ugly episodes: the people damaged and a damaged country'. - Jessica Au, Readings St Kilda

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jo-case Jo Case is the editor of Readings Monthly and associate editor of Kill Your Darlings journal. You can follow her on Twiiter - @jocaseau.