Author:

A review of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

 If you aren’t obsessed by exquisite food, amused by toilet humour and punkish slapstick, and don’t find the lives of the overworked, overpaid, talented, corrupt, and derelict cooks who turn out delicate dishes in New York’s fancy restaurants to be of interest, stop here. If, on the other hand, you have nerves of steel (think Basil in the Fawlty kitchens), a strong stomach for blood, gore, and dripping, and high tolerance of cuss words and adolescent antics (think the BBC’s Bottom, or Men Behaving Badly), along with a love of haute cuisine sans frou frou, you will enjoy Anthony Bourdain’s tell all memoir, Kitchen Confidential.

A review of Salman Rushdie’s Fury

 At 55, the Indian born, NY dwelling protagonist of Rushdie’s latest novel Fury, has the kind of rage which causes him to stand with a knife over the sleeping bodies of his wife and son, scream in public, and slip between…

A Review of Robert Dessaix’s Corfu

 Corfu: A Novel is an ambitious work, which uses a range of literary techniques such as complex time sequencing, incorporation of other texts, and mise-en-abyme, or a series of stories within a story, to convey its meaning. The narrative moves forward…

Interview with Robert Dessaix

The author of Corfu talks in depth about his latest novel, the theatre, his literary references, on the “redemption of the ordinary”, the possibility of a national literature, roots, the purpose of literature, the value of classic texts, and more.…

A review of Kate Grenville’s The Idea of Perfection

In the tentative groping of the characters for meaning, the articulation of silence, Grenville creates a story which is a pleasure to read. Reviewed by Magdalena Ball Kate Grenville is one of Australia’s most accessible writers. She has her own…

An Interview with Kate Grenville

The author of The Idea of Perfection, talks about the genesis of her new novel, about e-books, teaching, being an Australian writer, her latest project and more.

A review of Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin  “Two and two doesn’t necessarily get you the truth. Two and two equals a voice outside the window. Two and two equals the wind. The living bird is not its labelled bones.” (484) Mathematical reality…