Australian Book Review

'I am absolutely terrified of losing a job I absolutely hate.' Stephen Maserov has problems. A onetime teacher, married to fellow teacher Eleanor, he has retrained and is now a second-year lawyer working at mega-firm Freely Savage Carter Blanche. Despite toiling around the clock to make budget, he's in imminent danger of being downsized. And to make things worse, Eleanor, sick of single-parenting their two young children thanks to Stephen's relentless work schedule, has asked him to move out.

"Astute and consistently surprising critic" (NPR) Olivia Laing investigates the body and its discontents through the great freedom movements of the twentieth century. The body is a source of pleasure and of pain, at once hopelessly vulnerable and radiant with power. In her ambitious, brilliant sixth book, Olivia Laing charts an electrifying course through the long struggle for bodily freedom, using the life of the renegade psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich to explore gay rights and sexual liberation, feminism, and the civil rights movement. Drawing on her own experiences in protest and alternative medicine, and traveling from Weimar Berlin to the prisons of McCarthy-era America, Laing grapples with some of the most significant and complicated figures of the past century—among them Nina Simone, Christopher Isherwood, Andrea Dworkin, Sigmund Freud, Susan Sontag, and Malcolm X. Despite its many burdens, the body remains a source of power, even in an era as technologized and automated as our own. Arriving at a moment in which basic bodily rights are once again imperiled, Everybody is an investigation into the forces arranged against freedom and a celebration of how ordinary human bodies can resist oppression and reshape the world.

The first instalment of his famed autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs is a hilarious and touching introduction to the life of the author, broadcaster, critic and poet, Clive James. 'It is one of the most tender, frank and, above all, funny accounts of growing up I have ever read' –Michael Parkinson In the first instalment of James's memoirs we follow the young Clive on his journey from boyhood to the cusp of manhood, when his days of wearing short trousers are finally behind him. Battling with school, girls, various relatives, the local wildlife, and an overwhelming desire to be a superhero, Clive's adventures growing up in the suburbs of post-war Sydney are a hair-raising and uproarious evocation of a lost world. I was born in 1939. The other big event of that year was the outbreak of the Second World War, but for the moment that did not affect me . . . 'James cannot find it within himself to write a dull paragraph' – The Times With an introduction from P.J. O'Rourke, journalist, satirist and author of Holidays in Hell. Unreliable Memoirs is the first book of memoir from Clive James. Continue his story with Falling Towards England.

Meet Edna: shes 14, shes a misfit, shes kind of a genius and shes in love. With Harry. Theres just one problem: Harry doesnt actually know that she exists. Because Harry is in the worlds biggest boy band, True Connection. But to Edna, thats just a small obstacle. When True Connection announces a tour stop in Ednas city, she realises that this is her one chance to meet Harry and convince him of their destiny. But how will Edna get Harrys attention? How will she convince him that shes the one? And just how far is she prepared to go in the name of love? Edna takes her devotion to unforseen heights in this thrilling and hilarious musical comedy about first love, fan culture and the danger of underestimating teenage girls. Fangirls, by composer, lyricist and playwright Yve Blake, will surprise and shock you. If you think this is just a story about loving a boy band think again. This is a story about how we ask young women to see themselves, and a celebration of their true, unlimited power.

Originally published: Australia: Giramondo, 2013.

Australian history has been revised and reinterpreted by successive generations of historians, writers, governments and public commentators, yet there has been no account of the ways it has changed, who makes history, and how. Making Australian History responds to this critical gap in Australian historical research.A few years ago Anna Clark saw a series of paintings on a sandstone cliff face in the Northern Territory. There were characteristic crosshatched images of fat barramundi and turtles, as well as sprayed handprints and several human figures with spears. Next to them was a long gun, painted with white ochre, an unmistakable image of the colonisers. Was this an Indigenous rendering of contact? A work of history?Each piece of history has a message and context that depends on who wrote it and when. Australian history has swirled and contorted over the years: the history wars have embroiled historians, politicians and public commentators alike, while debates over historical fiction have been as divisive. History isn't just about understanding what happened and why. It also reflects the persuasions, politics and prejudices of its authors. Each iteration of Australia's national story reveals not only the past in question, but also the guiding concerns and perceptions of each generation of history makers.Making Australian History is bold and inclusive: it catalogues and contextualises changing readings of the past, it examines the increasingly problematic role of historians as national storytellers, and it incorporates the stories of people.

Once there was nothing. Then there was something . . . Come on a fascinating journey through time - from the explosive beginnings of our planet through the formation of the Australian landscape, from the deeply entrenched history of our Indigenous people to modern-day Australia. Beginning with the creation of our country's landmass and climate, 'Australian Story: An Illustrated Timeline' presents the key moments in our country's geographical, faunal and floral formation, and later human settlement. Illustrated with a striking collection of photographs and images from the NLA's digital collection, this is history for children like never before. A fascinating snapshot of our country, 'Australian Story' tells who we once were, who we are today . . . and where we are going.

Did you know that there are plants that eat insects? Plants whose seeds spread in poo? Plants that move when you touch them? And plants that grow on other plants? Plantastic! presents 26 of Australia's most unique and incredible native plants. Discover and identify native plants found in your local park, bushland, or even in your very own backyard. With its perfect balance of fun facts, activities, adventurous ideas and gorgeous illustrations, Plantastic! will prove just how fantastic Australia's native plants really are!

we are all just one small disaster away from sinking, and sometimes you only realise when you're gasping for air On a daylight street in Minneapolis Minnesota, a Black man is asphyxiated - by callous knee of an officer, by cruel might of state, and under crushing weight of colony. In Melbourne the body of another woman has been found - this time, after catching a late tram home. The Atlantic has run out of the English alphabet, when christening hurricanes this season. The earth is on fire - from the redwoods of California, to Australia's east coast. The sea draws back, and tsunamis lash out in Samoa and Sumatra. Water rises in Sulawesi and Nagasaki. Bloated cod are surfacing, all along the Murray Darling. The virus arrives, and the virus thrives. Authorities seal the public housing towers up, and truck in one cop to every five residents. Notre Dame is ablaze - the cathedral spire blackened, and teetering. Out in Biloela, the deportation vans have arrived. Every Friday, in cities all across the world, children are walking out of school. The wolves are circling. The wolves are circling. These poems speak of the world that is, and sing for a world that may one day be. 'One of the most compelling voices in Australian poetry this decade' Overland Literary Journal 'a powerful and fearless storyteller' Dave Eggers 'Readers are left with the sense they have been seen, heard and understood' Books + Publishing

In this chilling psychological thriller debut, one woman’s dark past becomes another’s deadly future. In 2003, sixteen-year-old Rebecca Winter disappeared. She’d been enjoying her summer break: working at a fast-food restaurant, crushing on an older boy and shoplifting with her best friend. Mysteriously ominous things began to happen—a presence in her room at night, periods of blackouts, a feeling of being watched—though Bec remained oblivious of what was to come. Eleven years later she is replaced. A young woman, desperate after being arrested, claims to be the decade-missing Bec. Soon the impostor is living Bec’s life. Sleeping in her bed. Hugging her mother and father. Learning her best friends’ names. Playing with her little brothers. But Bec’s welcoming family and enthusiastic friends are not quite as they seem. As the impostor dodges the detective investigating her case, she begins to delve into the life of the real Bec Winter—and soon realizes that whoever took Bec is still at large, and that she is in imminent danger. Praise for Only Daughter “Twisty, slippery, and full of surprises, this web of lies will ensnare you and keep you riveted until you’ve turned the final page.” —Lisa Unger, New York Times–bestselling author of Ink and Bone “[A] dark and edgy debut. . . . Truly distinctive and tautly told, Only Daughter welcomes a thrilling new voice in crime fiction.” —Mary Kubica, New York Times–bestselling author of The Good Girl “Snoekstra’s excellent debut stands out in the crowded psychological suspense field with smart, subtle red herrings and plenty of dark and violent secrets. Recommend to genre aficionados and readers who enjoyed Lisa Lutz’s The Passenger.” —Library Journal (starred review)