1 comments about Melba: Nellie Melba: A Biography (Australian Lives series).

1. Before Hetherington's exhaustive study of the legendary opera star, Nellie Melba, the available resources ranged from exaggerated to false. Not that Dame Nellie helped matters much; besides being a legendary singer, she had the marketing instincts of Martha Stewart and succeeded in creating quite a bit of self-myth that appeared and reappeared in newspapers, magazines and biographies. The 1909 biography by her secretary Agnes Murphy, a ghost-written autobiography by Beverly Nichols and a biography by Percy Colson, which appeared in 1932, a year after Melba's death, could all be described as "Melba's life the way she'd like us to remember it." Also in 1932, Nichols published "Evensong", a novel whose unpleasant, selfish and domineering central character is obviously intended to be Melba. Within a year "Evensong" appeared as a play and a film. A willing public accepted Nichols's fiction as fact. MGM's film, "Melba", and a 1961 centenary biography by Joseph Wechberg did nothing to dispel the well-entrenched myth.

   Hetheringon succeeds in cutting away this accumulated legend to paint a balanced portrait of the complex Nellie Melba, a study well-grounded in solid research and primary sources. In clear and very readable prose, he presents a woman with a superior vocal talent and intense ambition, a stubborn woman dedicated to hard work and convinced that if you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself. That Hetherington has a detailed knowledge of his subject is obvious. Occasionally he seems overly critical, though that may be an attempt to remain impartial.

   The book contains numerous photos of Melba, some posed and in costume, and a few candid, the latter scarce as Melba rarely allowed candid photos of herself. For anyone who would like a detailed portrait of this remarkable Australian, this is an excellent place to start.

1 comments about Tent Boxing: An Australian Journey.

1. I must admit I loved reading this book. I could not put it down . I myself traveled for years on many shows in the United States. I knew many guys who were just like the characters in the book. This book nailed down what it is like to be a showman. It dealt strickly with the working men and how they came to the buisness and how they lived. If you ever wanted to know what it is like to travel with a show then this is a good primer. Wayne McLennan does fine job explaining what is like to live in an era that has almost forgotten the the old showmen paticularly the Boxing Tent fighters. It is sad this way of life is dieing out. Good for Wayne for preserving a small bit of it . These shows have long been forgotten in the States. They used to be known here as AT shows or athlectic shows. They usualy accompanied Carnival and even Circus Sideshows. They actually were quite profitable in their time. Fun and interesting read for any one who wants to really know what that sort of life was all about. Books on this subject are so hard to come by.Army

No comments about The Steel Master: A Life of Essington Lewis (Australian Lives series).

1 comments about A Katherine Mansfield Chronology (Author Chronologies).

1. When researching or writing, one important step for a scholar is to write a chronology for reference, and one would have thought that this volume would be a time saver. Well, it is a chronology taken from key source material, but the question remains whether it has anything but the most common information from the standard biographies. I would imagine that the scholar who might benefit most from this title is already familiar with the biographies by Alpers, Tomalin, and recent work by Woods, Ferral, O'Sullivan, Scott, and Smith. While the information here might be accurately collected from other sources, there is the question of whether there's anything new that is really offered. Maybe the bullet point biography has its place, but for this work to be really complete, it would have been more useful to have the entries cited. It is defenseless not to have done so.
   
   One section that also screams to be done more completely is the "Who's Who in the Mansfield Chronology," an attempt at a KM Encyclopedia. All the major players--easily found in previously published sources or online-- are listed, but the first name I went to look for, Jeanne Beauchamp (Renshaw), was not included.
   
   This is a great concept, and one would hope that scholarly libraries will make this available for researchers. However, it may be of limited use for many of the questions that have yet to be answered about this author's work and life.

1 comments about Courage a Grace: A Biography of Dame Mary Gilmore.

1. I didn't like the book I have read and personally would never buy the book. My close friend and I also agree that the book has no real info

1 comments about The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature (Oxford Reference).

1. This is a 'must have' guide for those who are either researching particular Australian writers, works of literature, or important themes.
   
   If, for example, you are trying to find out more about bushrangers in Australian Literature, the comprehensive entry that starts on page 137 will define the term, give some history and provide some examples of literature.
   
   Want to know something about 'The Thorn Birds' by Colleen McCullough? Turn to Page 745. Colleen McCullough is herself the subject of an entry on Page 489.
   
   A great starting point for any author, theme or significant work of literature up to the 1990s.
   
   Jennifer Cameron-Smith

1 comments about Searching for Aboriginal Languages: Memoirs of a Field Worker.

1. This is a fascinating book.

   First off, it presents a close-up view of what the last stages of language death are like -- the language is spoken by only two or three people very old people. They may speak it well, or may speak it haltingly, or may only remember a few phrases. And then they die, and there went the language. Since most of the languages in the US and in the world are headed toward that fate in the next forty years, I think it's time people get to see what it looks like, and what a great loss it is.

   Second off, this book is the closest I've seen anyone manage to explaining what it is that we linguists do. If only this book got half the press that Steven Pinker's ramnblings get!

   And third off, this book recalls some of the daily experiences of the author's travels in rural Australia, among the Aborigines. As one rarely reads anything about Australian Aborigines, or rural Australia in general, this alone makes it interesting. I, for one, had no idea that the Aborigines were, until recently, in a situation combining some of the worst features of Apartheid and of what the US was doing to its Natives in the 19th century.

No comments about Richard Spencer: Napoleonic Naval Hero And Australian Pioneer (Staples South West Region Publication Series).

3 comments about One for the Road: Hitchhiking Through the Australian Outback.

1. Horwitz does a wonderful job of depicting ordinary life in Australia. However, his sense of humour adds a brilliant quality to the essay which makes an ordinary account of his travels something far from mundane. I recommend this book for anyone interested in travel essays or a good laugh.



2. Horwitz has captured the Outback and its weird bunch of denizens down to it's last blowfly and tortured vowel. His descriptions of unlikely places such as (the mostly underground) Coober Pedy and(unfortunately mostly above-ground) Mt. Isa are uncannily accurate and appropriately scathing. For all those about to travel the Outback; those who have been lucky enough to do so; or those who merely wish they were among the aformentioned. (Should be read along with the Lonely Planet Guide to Outback Australia.)



3. There are constraints to Australian road travel - the chief one being that the cities, hence, the roads, hug the coasts. There are dangers, desolation, loneliness, above all, heat. And flies. It takes some courage to face these conditions alone, even in modern times. Tony Horwitz faced them alone and on foot - some of the time. The result was a fantastic voyage and a superb account.

   Horwitz is an unlikely prospect for an Australian adventurer. A transplanted Yank [Washington, DC to Sydney], urban [New York City to, again, Sydney] and Jewish [rather anomalous in the Outback]. These conditions might fatally impair the less adventurous, but Horwitz can "boldly go" [as he did in a later book] and so he does. With singular dedication, he even starts his trek heading West from Sydney past Dubbo to the Alice. With no direct Sydney to Alice route, the journey is circuitous, a fine introduction to the later expedition. Here, Horwitz encounters people and displays his talent at recording them. The limited number of roads implies limited options and few rides. It's a closed world and he becomes "the crazy Yank we heard about back in Nevertire."

   Constricted view doesn't inhibit Horwitz' abilities. He has an advantage over many travel writers - he's a journalist first and a traveller after. A perceptive eye and a talented pen record his reaction to the land of Australia. And the people he encounters who become the focus of his attention. He's good with people, drawing them out - fulfilling the image of the chatty Yank, entertaining, but somehow provocative. The drivers, pub keepers and drinkers respond to his novelty. He records them with lively asides, keeping your interest with every page. 'Surely, these can't be real people,' you may think. No worries - Horwitz has captured them intimately, intruding only lightly as they respond to his queries.

   A poignant chapter, describing his search for a Jewish family in Broome with whom to celebrate Passover, is the highlight of the book. Noting the town's multiracial population, he observes: "Australians . . . seem uncomfortable when the subject of Judaism is raised." He attributes the feeling purely to ignorance, not prejudice, a welcome change from attitudes toward the "Abos." Horowitz, although claiming atheism, remains drawn to the family assemblage of the seder. Alone in Broome, he discovers a new level of solitude - in this polyglot community, Jews are rarer than jewels. He pores over the telephone directory which only displays "an Anglo-Saxon litany of Browns, Harrisons and Smiths." A solution beckons in the guise of a local priest. "It is a common sort of misconception. If there's no rabbi about, well, try a priest. One religious ratbag's as good as another." The solution, however, lies elsewhere. The situation amply portrays Horwitz' humanity, absolving him of any stigma of the detached, unfeeling journalist. His roots are a significant element in his life, one that gently, but insistently, haunts him. This book can haunt you, as it does me.

No comments about Mind the Country: Tim Winton's Fiction.