Culture
Books
Skip the boring bits, hit a chapter a week, get drunk: how to read Ulysses
My first nibble of Ulysses happened decades ago, and I spat it out, undigested, no doubt making a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp.
- by Keith Austin
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From the screen to the jungle, Werner Herzog writes his first novel
Like many of his films, the great German director’s first novel is about a character who has lived through extreme experiences.
- by Alexandra Alter
Twenty million shows and counting: The remarkable story of the BBC at 100
David Hendy marks the centenary of the BBC with a comprehensive history that offers some warnings for our own ABC.
- by Bridget Griffen-Foley
Shocking crimes and Minnie Driver’s eye-opening memoir: Top books to read next
Sally Piper’s exquisitely written novel Bone Memories and the Good Will Hunting actor’s comic essays lead this week’s wrap of new reviews.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Steven Carroll
There’s much we can still learn from these 12 life-changing experiments
The Matter of Everything looks at a series of breakthroughs to discover what else we can learn from the course of scientific progress.
- by Bianca Nogrady
The ‘bonkers’ self-published book making history as a Miles Franklin contender
Michael Winkler’s novel Grimmish is the first self-published book to be included on the shortlist for the Miles Franklin, Australia’s most significant literary prize.
- by Jason Steger
Her first book began with a dream of Lizzy Borden. The second is far more disturbing
A shocking revelation by novelist Sarah Schmidt’s mother informed a dark exploration of motherhood in Blue Hour.
- by Jane Sullivan
My Gawd! This 100-year-old etiquette guide might still hold some useful lessons
In Emily Post’s Etiquette, the sharpest gibes are reserved for the language section.
- by David Astle
Mad Max meets Wake in Fright in bestselling author’s cracking new thriller
With its echoes of Wake in Fright and Mad Max, Adrian McKinty’s The Island is a gothic nightmare about one family’s breathless battle for survival.
- by Sue Turnbull
Author Anne Tyler: ‘What am I going to do with my life? I’m only 80!’
With her 24th novel out, “America’s Jane Austen” says she never intended to become a writer.
- by Sarah Baxter
‘Too tired to keep track’: The struggle of writing a book with a newborn in tow
When the line between sleep and wakefulness starts to blur, so does the line between fiction and reality.
- by Anna Snoekstra