The memoir was written as a book of remembrance for the author’s parents and for her daughter. Its readers will react to it in many ways. First it is a family document. It depicts the immigrant experience, specifically a Jewish…
A Review of Iain Pears’ The Dream of Scipio
Pears is a powerful historian and his research is impeccable. The links between the three stories are handled well, and it is very interesting to watch a similar drama simultaneously playing itself out in very different contexts, albeit on the…
Interview with Harbhajan Sandhu
In this fascinating interview, the author of Wayward Brahmin talks about his novel, his characters, the underlying themes, self-publishing, the populist hunger for physics and astronomical knowledge, cosmology and a “theory of everything”, the possibility of finding life on other planets, the…
A Review of Wayward Brahmin by Harbhajan Singh Sandhu
Sandhu is a born storyteller with a well-appointed if not always well controlled vocabulary and a sharp tongue. His book tells the story of the Brahmin professor who leaves his native land for the United States and sexual liberation. …
A Review of The Healthy Kitchen by Dr Andrew Weil and Rosie Daley
The nutritional advice provided is sound, and not all at extreme, and the recipes are simple, healthy and very tasty. The Healthy Kitchen is definitely more of a cookbook than a diet book, but if you are inspired by the many tidbits…
A Review of Maya by Jostein Gaarder
It is a pity that Jostein Gaarder isn’t a better writer. His concepts are so good, and his themes so compelling, that, in this hands of a better fiction writer, he could produce excellent work. As it is, his books…
A review of Dorothy Porter’s Other Worlds
Reviewed by Magdalena Ball Other Worlds by Dorothy Porter Picador, Aug 2001 RRP $A$25.00 ISBN: 0330362860 Writing about good poetry is like trying to describe wine: the heavy full mouth astringency leaving a warm sweetness after swallowing. Poetry is as…
An interview with Dean Warren, author of The Last Underclass and Growing Young
Dean Warren talks about his novels, as well as his background in missile work, the appeal of the science fiction genre, genetic engineering and the repercussions of breakthroughs, his influences and future literary and analytical works. Interview by Magdalena Ball…
asteful Camp: A Review of Ainsley Harriott’s Low Fat Meals in Minutes
Every recipe I tried worked well, and took me less than an hour, plus, with the exception of the spinach soup (which was delicious but a very suspicious green for preschoolers), my children ate everything – no mean feat. There…
A Review of Manil Suri’s The Death of Vishnu
The Death of Vishnu takes place on a small stage, with most of the external action occurring in the narrow stairwell of a Bombay apartment building. The characters are all ordinary, from dying alcoholic Vishnu, to the the warring neighbours…