Nonfiction

The Lonely City by Olivia Laing

Reviewed by Stella Charls

Olivia Laing’s new book, The Lonely City, explores the connection between loneliness and creativity. Like her previous works, To the River and The Trip to Echo Spring, The Lonely City eludes neat categorisation. A fusion of scholarship and…

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From the Outer edited by Nicole Hayes and Alicia Sometimes

Reviewed by Robbie Egan

I approach writing about football with a degree of trepidation. The game is rich in vernacular and this often seems to result in an exercise in extreme verisimilitude that underwhelms in charm and overwhelms narrative. Fortunately, From the Outer presents…

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The Art of Reading by Damon Young

Reviewed by Robert Frantzeskos

For many, the task of reading seems simple enough - indeed you have made it this far. What perhaps you didn’t know, is that by exercising an acute way of reading well, you are initiating a delicate and sublime building…

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The Media and the Massacre by Sonya Voumard

Reviewed by Anaya Latter

In The Media and the Massacre: Port Arthur 1996–2016 journalist Sonya Voumard examines the fallout from the 2009 publication of best-selling book Born or Bred? Martin Bryant: Making of a Mass Murderer, written by fellow journalists Robert Wainwright and…

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Georgiana Molloy by Bernice Barry

Reviewed by Chris Gordon

Can you imagine arriving in the early 1800s to the remote Western Australian coast, leaving friends and family behind and starting a new life in a foreign landscape with only your husband for company? It would break so many of…

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Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner

Reviewed by Mark Rubbo

We know Helen Garner best for her novels and her harrowing dissections of human dramas. She has a way of describing the world with such wisdom and candour and, sometimes, delight, that it takes one’s breath away … at least…

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Talking to My Country by Stan Grant

Reviewed by Bronte Coates

In 2015, veteran journalist and Wiradjuri man Stan Grant caught the attention of Australia with his short but passionate response to the booing of footballer Adam Goodes. Earlier this year, he got the country talking again when his speech on…

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A Murder Without Motive by Martin McKenzie-Murray

Reviewed by Nina Kenwood

I’ve long been a fan of Martin McKenzie-Murray’s journalism, and I think his work for The Saturday Paper is outstanding. He is skilled at approaching difficult topics with sensitivity, compassion and empathy. I am still haunted by the series he…

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Mietta’s Italian Family Recipes by Mietta O’Donnell

Reviewed by Chris Gordon

Welcome to Melbourne, where we pride ourselves on having the very best café and food landscape in Australia. We have this landscape because there are certain families and undeniable creative identities that years ago fostered a culture so rich and…

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Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own by Kate Bolick

Reviewed by Amy Vuleta

For me, there’s no greater joy than sitting alone in my living room with a glass of wine, cat curled up at my side, and thinking about my feminist forebears who’ve allowed me the freedom to be exactly right here…

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