Spectrum
The best celebrity memoirs have exactly what literature today lacks
As more and more crossed my desk, I found that the best of them were written with a robust, fearless honesty that I’ve almost given up looking for in current fiction.
- by David Free
Latest
The Afghans is an empathic look at life for women under the Taliban
Norwegian journalist Asne Seierstad returns to Afghanistan for the first since she wrote the controversial book, The Bookseller of Kabul.
- by Christopher Kremmer
The Twisters reboot has no right being this good
And charismatic star Anthony Ramos is a key part of its winning equation.
- by Robert Moran
Ed Zwick’s laugh-out-loud memoir of working in Hollywood
The creator of thirtysomething has written a perceptive and entertaining account of his life behind the camera and the people he has worked with and fallen out with.
- by Tom Ryan
The case for Justin Timberlake, the celebrity we deserve
JT has once again proven that he is there to meet the moment, to show us who we are.
- by Mali Waugh
Opinion
Pets
Ten things that man’s best friend could do better
Do dogs really need to follow you from room to room, all day, every day, in the expectation that you’ll do something interesting?
- by Richard Glover
Siang Lu imagines a comic dystopia in this labyrinthine new novel
Ghost Cities challenges readers to make sense of life on a huge film set where everyone is both a citizen going about their business and an actor.
- by Owen Richardson
The great Australian war stories that didn’t actually happen
In his new book, Mark Dapin demonstrates that the truth and war are uncomfortable partners.
- by Edmund Goldrick
Why adapting is the key to survival in the face of climate change
Clive Hamilton and George Wilkenfeld have written a necessary book for a world subject to the ravages of climate change.
- by Kurt Johnson
This beautiful memoir beats with a radically open heart
Ailsa Piper’s salts her sorrow with spiritual longing in this subtle book about living with grief.
- by Michael McGirr
Opinion
Review
Master or monster: The artist equally loathed and revered
Call it charisma, presence or personal magnetism. Paul Gauguin had it in abundance.
- by John McDonald