Despite (and perhaps at times, because of) the anger and rejection, Ouyang Yu’s voice has become a quintessentially Australian voice. We are almost all migrants, and most people have felt the kind of self and societal alienation that many of these poems touch on. This deep-seated irony is obvious enough to add power even to those poems that anchor themselves in silliness.
Category: Book Reviews
Book Reviews
A review of Putting It On Paper by Dawn Josephson
While the book is targeted towards book authors, much of the advice is useful for any writer who needs to promote themselves (that is, for any writer). Writing good press releases, cover letters, bios and self-promoting articles are the keystones…
A review of Get Paid to Write by Thomas A. Williams
Get Paid to Write is a simple to read how to book which will have long reaching impact on how writers approach their craft. It contains chapters which only scratch the surface of some areas but overall is an excellent and…
A review of Billie’s Ghost by Chad Hautmann
Despite the grief and sadness, Billie’s Ghost is ultimately a tale of hope and redemption. This slim volume will haunt you long after you have turned the last page and make you want to re-discover the music of Billie Holliday…
A review of Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernieres
The characters age beautifully, and the reader is eager for more of the quirky and believable Eskibahce characters. de Bernieres has a wonderful sense of character and the delight in the eccentric detail which takes the reader deep into the…
A review of Millard Fillmore, Mon Amour by John Blumenthal
The opening monologue is an ill-tempered attack on romantic love. The author is even cynical about the apparent attachment between a human and the pet dog. The momentary discomfort of having a narrator before one has any characters or a…
A review of A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
The whole book converges on one point: that all life is one, on Earth, and in the wider universe, and that life is a miraculous thing and not something to be taken lightly. Put into the context of this large…
A review of The Last Song of Dusk by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi
Like all good novels, the book raises plenty of questions: Is love enough, or do we need more–support, friendship, companionship, happiness? Is there really no mercy in life? Or are there indeed mercies in little moments, of story, song and…
A review of The Frugal Book Promoter by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Throughout the book are quotes and suggestions from well known self-publicists and experts in the publicity field, along with a wealth of anecdotal information from Howard-Johnson’s own considerable experience. There are lots of examples, as well as some practical templates…
A review of Broken Land by Coral Hull
This is very powerful, and more so because it doesn’t rely on appealing to the reader’s intellectual sense of right or wrong. It is about pain and beauty, about loss and longing, and the full loss of life is as…