books, magazines, reading
Just finished The Animals in That Country by Laura Jean McKay. Another utterly extraordinary book (and many thanks to Ian Pidd for the recommendation). I still have a lot to think about. Apart from the current pandemic echoes, I found the family/not-family ties deeply affecting. And told, or revealed, in such a strong first person […]
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Reading update. The Eric Clapton book was great reading but honestly what a self-obsessed git! I could put up with the “and then I had to catch a plane to meet the fabulous yacht that would take us around the Greek islands” stuff but when you crash your Ferrari into a delivery van and you
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For long weekend reading, I’m tackling the memoirs of Australian rock icon, Jeff St John. His wheelchair wheelies on GTK while belting out serious rock are among my most formative musical moments. I need a long weekend for The Jeff St John Story, because it’s not the kind of book you slip in your bag
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Next on the reading list is Rick Stein’s memoir Under a Mackerel Sky. This was actually part of my 60th birthday treat back in October. We stayed for a few days in Mollymook (about 150km further down the south coast of NSW) where the English author and TV cook has a restaurant called Bannisters. The
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I seem to be tearing through my holiday reading pile at the moment, so for my next effort I’ll tackle The David Foster Wallace Reader – 957 hardback pages of it. I know what I’m getting into – Infinite Jest is one of my all-time favourite books. Well, that was quite a trip! And shut
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Appropriately enough, I finished this book, subtitled How Australian Music Changed the World, on Australia Day. That’s appropriate on two fronts. First, the focus of Up from Down Under is the success of Australian bands in the US and other overseas markets, specifically Peter Allen, Helen Reddy, Olivia Newton John, the Little River Band, the
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Immediate next on my reading list is Up From Down Under, from 2013, by Jeff Apter – recommended to me by the author himself. Took me a while to track down a copy but a mint condition copy arrived this morning. Looking forward to it.
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In The Book of Daniel, Jeff Apter has aggregated a lot of information about Daniel Johns, the prodigiously talented former lead singer of Silverchair and current eclectic and eccentric musical auteur (my description). Some of that information came from Apter’s own previous book on Silverchair and its revised and updated edition, some came from Apter’s
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Review: Roadies, by Stuart Coupe Compelling account of the road crews that make live music possible, with a particular focus on capturing the roadie’s life in Australia in the 70s-80s, a time that has since evolved into something else. Each chapter reveals another character – and they’re great characters – building a multi-layered, cross-referencing tableau
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Well, here it is the third day of March, which means summer in Australia is technically over. As I sit here in 30 degree heat looking at a cloudless, sparkling blue sky with just a mild, cooling breeze – that’s hard to credit. Nevertheless, it’s as good a time as any to summarise my summer
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