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Carry Me Down MJ Hyland $29.95 “You’re an odd mixture, you are, of little boy and a grown lad. Which am I speaking to now?” M.J.Hyland’s Carry Me Down is a character study of John Egan, a boy caught in the treacherous marshland between childhood and adulthood, intellect and emotion, fantasy and grim reality. Living in rural Ireland with his mother, father and grandmother, John believes he has a unique talent for lie detection and dreams about one day making it into the Guinness Book of Records. What John must learn, as his family hovers on the brink of poverty and emotional collapse, is that some things are more important than finding out the truth. Hyland’s deceptively simple narrative expertly distils the misconceptions, humiliations and brutalities of childhood, and the anguish of growing up. This is a disturbing and compassionate story. Nominated for Man Booker Prize 2006. |
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Europe Christos Tsiolkas $22.95 Stunning, literally breathtaking Dead Europe tells the story of Isaac, a young Australian photographer travelling through Europe, where he finds a deadened and decadent, greedy and globalised post-Cold War Europe, and the ghosts of his family’s shocking past. Part first-person modern narrative, part ghost story, part dead, part un-dead and completely compelling. |
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In a Queer Time & Place: Transgender Bodies, Subcultural Lives Judith Halberstam $35.95 Judith Halberstam is probably best known for her book Female Masculinity – the groundbreaking work on alternatives to male masculinity. In this new collection of essays Halberstam looks at how the transgendered body is depicted in art, film, fiction, video, and music. She begins with the life and death of young transgender man Brandon Teena and the film Boys Don’t Cry. She considers the “transgender gaze” in art-house films like By Hook or By Crook, as well as the influence of lesbian drag king cultures on mainstream films like The Full Monty and Austin Powers. The art of DeLaGrace Volcano, the music and look of Le Tigre, the life of Billy Tipton and many others are discussed. It’s jam-packed. And there are lots of glossy colour pics. And as it is the first full-length study of its kind, it’s bound to be cited for years to come. |
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The Myth of the
Mainstream:Politics and the Performing Arts in Australia Today Robyn Archer $12.95 Platform Papers No. 4 April 2005 Quarterly essays on the performing arts In a passionate essay, Australia’s favourite yodeller attacks this nation and accuses its leaders of selling out the arts to populism, marketing, and ‘the myth of the mainstream’. The result being a whole lot of mediocre or just plain crappy options on our TVs, in our cinemas, on our stages, and in print. She talks about the preference for “pure entertainment” or easy viewing over intellectual challenge, and calls for performance not dictated by populism, but by daring and difference and debate. She absolutely rocks. Responses to her argument will be published in the July edition of the Journal. |
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The
Hours Michael Cunningham $22.95 Since reading The Hours a few years ago, I’ve had trouble finding a new novel to love as much as this one, and thus I have to include it here. It opens with the most riveting reconstruction of Virginia Woolf’s drowning, and moments leading up to it. And what follows is the most perfect novel and tribute to Mrs Dalloway, interweaving three periods and three unforgettable women. Cunningham’s new novel Specimen Days is out early July. I can’t wait. |
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