McPhee’s life is certainly an interesting one, touching as it does, on the history of Australian publishing, the seminal authors in the Australian literary life, a taste of Australian life in the 70s and 80s, and the worldwide impact of commercialism and technology on the world of literacy, books and the reader: “The gulf between literary and commercial publishing could only get wider as cultural literacy levels plummeted and the much more visual mass media took over”.
Tag: literary non-fiction
A review of Gail Bell’s The Poison Principle
Gail Bell takes the facts of this story about her grandfather, handed down through family folklore, hunted down obsessively in testimonials, newspaper clippings, bits of journals, and scattered artefacts, and turns it into a literary examination of the narrative of…
A Review of Helen Garner’s The Feel of Steel
Mastering a new sport, a musical instrument, having a grandchild, going through a divorce, or even taking a big trip, are all common scenarios in most people’s lives. These are ordinary moments, and that is why they are so wonderful.…