November 2019, no. 416
November 2019, no. 416
Welcome to our November issue. Timelily, given recent concerns about government intimidation of whistleblowers and journalists, we lead with a strong article by Kieran Pender on the culture of secrecy and the need for vigilance and protest – not apathy and accommodation. Elsewhere, ABR Fellow Felicity Plunkett reviews Charlotte Wood’s new novel, and last year’s Fellow, Beejay Silcox, reviews the most ballyhooed book of the year, Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments, which she finds wanting. In the arts section, leading arts critics and professionals name their arts highlights of the year.
Full contents
Arts Highlights of the Year
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2019 Arts Highlights of the Year
by Robyn Archer et al.
Fiction
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The Weekend by Charlotte Wood
Reviewed by Felicity Plunkett -
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
Reviewed by Beejay Silcox -
Field of Poppies by Carmel Bird
Reviewed by Gregory Day -
The Trespassers by Meg Mundell
Reviewed by Amy Baillieu -
There Was Still Love by Favel Parrett
Reviewed by Anna MacDonald -
A Constant Hum by Alice Bishop
Reviewed by Debra Adelaide -
The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories edited by Jhumpa Lahiri
Reviewed by Rita Wilson -
Lucky Ticket by Joey Bui
Reviewed by Cassandra Atherton -
The House of Youssef by Yumna Kassab
Reviewed by Sonia Nair
Essays
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Salt: Selected stories and essays by Bruce Pascoe
Reviewed by Steve Kinnane
Publisher of the Month
Letters
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Letters to the Editor
by Alan Atkinson, Joanne McDonald, Angus Forbes, Elisabeth Holdsworth, and Tim Flannery
Commentary
Poetry
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Ashbery Mode edited by Michael Farrell
Reviewed by John Hawke
Advances
True Crime
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Mandatory Murder: A true history of homicide and injustice in an outback town by Steven Schubert
Reviewed by Russell Marks
Environmental Studies
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The Rising Tide: Among the islands and atolls of the Pacific Ocean by Tom Bamforth
Reviewed by Ceridwen Spark
Language
Memoir
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Other People’s Houses by Hilary McPhee
Reviewed by Jane Cadzow -
All the Lives We Ever Lived: Seeking solace in Virginia Woolf by Katharine Smyth
Reviewed by Ann-Marie Priest -
On Drugs by Chris Fleming
Reviewed by James Antoniou -
Storytime: Growing up with books by Jane Sullivan
Reviewed by Margaret Robson Kett
Art
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Present Tense: Anna Schwartz Gallery And Thirty-Five Years Of Contemporary Australian Art by Doug Hall
Reviewed by Sophie Knezic
History
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Underland: A deep time journey by Robert Macfarlane
Reviewed by Alison Pouliot -
Red Meat Republic: A hoof-to-table history of how beef changed America by Joshua Specht
Reviewed by Cameo Dalley
Politics
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Inside the Greens: The origins and future of the party, the people and the politics by Paddy Manning
Reviewed by James Walter
Biography
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Sontag: Her life by Benjamin Moser
Reviewed by Paul Kildea -
A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion by Tom Segev, translated by Haim Watzman
Reviewed by Ilana Snyder -
Peggy Glanville-Hicks: Composer and critic by Suzanne Robinson
Reviewed by Jim Davidson -
Thomas Harriot: A life in science by Robyn Arianrhod
Reviewed by Elizabeth Finkel -
Mirka Mora: A life making art by Sabine Cotte
Reviewed by Carol Middleton
Astronomy
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Cosmic Chronicles: A user’s guide to the universe by Fred Watson
Reviewed by Robyn Williams
Collection of letters
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Ian Fairweather: A life in letters edited by Claire Roberts and John Thompson
Reviewed by Morag Fraser