jjv84's review
4.0
Quite good. All the short stories are great and interesting. Some I wish were longer as they did lack a bit of detail.
spacerookie's review
3.0
Some of the stories from this book are a little bland; others are provoking and well-written. I enjoyed the pieces by William McInnes (an accountant lives out of hotel rooms and fights meaninglessness) and Monica McInerney (an old woman devotes most of her energies to her fictional Christmas letters but turns out to be less lonely than she seems).
A real gem the last story in the collection, Jack Marx's Letter from a Drunk to a Long Gone Wife. Poetry in prose, literally. It's rare I come across anything like it.
A real gem the last story in the collection, Jack Marx's Letter from a Drunk to a Long Gone Wife. Poetry in prose, literally. It's rare I come across anything like it.
sienna_mac's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
larrys's review
1.0
I got this book free with a purchase from Dymocks some years back and because I'm a contrarian, if the title tells me I 'must read' these stories this year, I'll maybe read them but not when you tell me to, dammit. So I'll wait five years and read them then, thanks.
Overall: This collection was a place for big name Australian authors to dump their stuff that doesn't quite work.
Peter Temple's story is the stand-out example of this phenomenon. Stories about misogynist, transphobic, self-important assholes rarely work. He, of all people, should've known this by the time he wrote it, near the end of his career. Sure, the main character gets his comeuppance, after a false ending followed by a devastating payback, but even if you are the sort of reader who enjoys seeing nasty people eating just desserts, you must wade through their actual disgusting behaviour first, and that's what makes this story an unpleasant read with nothing of depth to come away with.
But let's start at the beginning, with Robert Drewe's contribution. An unpleasant read also, if you're sick and tired of stories which centre, and therefore prioritise, the sexual needs of middle-aged men while objectifying much younger women, turning them into vixens via the unreliable gaze of the close third person narration. However, the story is well done. I'll give him that. He's a master of craft.
I don't share the same sense of humour as Kathy Lette. It's a humour generationally removed from my own. Who knows, maybe it's an age thing not a generational thing. Maybe I too will find nipples on knees gags hilarious in a few years' time. (Though I think I'd already be there if I was ever going to.) My own generation of women are so fed up with fat-ugly-aging-body jokes that many of us prefer to avoid value judgements about bodies at all. More irritating still, in this story Lette manages to other everyone who isn't a straight white peep -- gay men, Muslims and even Aboriginal folk. If you don't find Kathy Lette funny at a line level there's nothing to see here: The message is basic and we all know it from fairytale -- beauty is skin deep, and you're better off with a Good person than a Beautiful, vain person. The unintended message is inevitably that Beautiful people are vain. Not so much as a hint of originality or subversion.
Life In A Hotel Room by William McInnes felt like rambling until enough space was filled to call it a short story. Perhaps I just didn't get it. I failed to empathise much with a man going in for his first anal probe. Other women readers, who endure internal exams every two years from early adulthood, may have the same issue, especially if you've also given birth. Boo hoo for him. There's also something vaguely homophobic about jokes involving men getting anally examined at the doctor's. This is *Friends* humour, and it's amazing how much humour has dated even since this book was published.
Elizabeth's News by Monica McInerney is the kind of story I like -- I have an interest in characters with rich inner lives -- a full on paracosm in Elizabeth's case. Too often in these stories the imaginative adult is punished for their fantasies at the end. McInerney avoids anything that obvious. In fact, this is a bit of a subversion of such stories. I kinda liked it.
Thomas Keneally's story is yet another narrative about a middle aged man grappling with full on ephebophilia -- a teacher with a hard on for a Sudanese immigrant child. The third person narrator tells us he is nevertheless a good teacher. I think we're meant to sympathise with him because he's self-aware. At the end he has this epiphany about trauma when he imagines the girl suckling at her mother's breast -- oh, yeah, she's actually a child after all! I really hated this story. I especially hate the title.
Melina Marchetta's short story is in fact an excerpt from a novel. It's very good YA with realistic dialogue but this 'short story' very much feels like a novel excerpt rather than a satisfying story in its own right. Also, it's yet another tale about sexual desire from a male point of view, which is fine in and of itself -- but fails to balance out other stories in this particular collection, despite the fifty fifty m/f gender balance of authors.
Anita Heiss wrote a story set in Canberra and -- this is a subversion in its own right -- the main character likes Canberra and doesn't want to leave! (Shhh. Don't let's tell everybody that Canberra is pretty great.) Turns out it's not really Canberra she wants to stay for, though, so her epiphany is a bit of a disappointment to be honest. This one is about female desire though. (The best friend somehow knows that Canberra has the highest number of lesbian couples in Australia but I wanted to yell that New York is great for dating... if you're a man! Doesn't everyone know that? I guess The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. hadn't come out at this point.)
Toni Jordan's story is a meet-cute romantic fantasy, with the tension heightened due to the fact it's taking place on an actual stage in front of a big audience. Similar in tone to the Anita Heiss story. (Is it just me or does Toni Jordan look eerily similar to Julia Gillard, especially in black and white?)
Letter From A Drunk To A Long Gone Wife is what it says on the tin, but with extra misery (because you can't have a title explaining the whole entire story, right?). A problem with entirely epistolary work: a whole lot of backstory that the addressee would surely know already. So it unfortunately feels written for the reader rather than for the fictional wife. All in all this letter is a bunch of misery with little reward. I don't give a shit about this dude.
Next time Dymocks asks me if I want the free kids' book or the free short story collection I'm taking the kids' book. Meh. Who am I kidding? These days I only ever buy through whoever's cheapest online (except f**king Amazon).
Overall: This collection was a place for big name Australian authors to dump their stuff that doesn't quite work.
Peter Temple's story is the stand-out example of this phenomenon. Stories about misogynist, transphobic, self-important assholes rarely work. He, of all people, should've known this by the time he wrote it, near the end of his career. Sure, the main character gets his comeuppance, after a false ending followed by a devastating payback, but even if you are the sort of reader who enjoys seeing nasty people eating just desserts, you must wade through their actual disgusting behaviour first, and that's what makes this story an unpleasant read with nothing of depth to come away with.
But let's start at the beginning, with Robert Drewe's contribution. An unpleasant read also, if you're sick and tired of stories which centre, and therefore prioritise, the sexual needs of middle-aged men while objectifying much younger women, turning them into vixens via the unreliable gaze of the close third person narration. However, the story is well done. I'll give him that. He's a master of craft.
I don't share the same sense of humour as Kathy Lette. It's a humour generationally removed from my own. Who knows, maybe it's an age thing not a generational thing. Maybe I too will find nipples on knees gags hilarious in a few years' time. (Though I think I'd already be there if I was ever going to.) My own generation of women are so fed up with fat-ugly-aging-body jokes that many of us prefer to avoid value judgements about bodies at all. More irritating still, in this story Lette manages to other everyone who isn't a straight white peep -- gay men, Muslims and even Aboriginal folk. If you don't find Kathy Lette funny at a line level there's nothing to see here: The message is basic and we all know it from fairytale -- beauty is skin deep, and you're better off with a Good person than a Beautiful, vain person. The unintended message is inevitably that Beautiful people are vain. Not so much as a hint of originality or subversion.
Life In A Hotel Room by William McInnes felt like rambling until enough space was filled to call it a short story. Perhaps I just didn't get it. I failed to empathise much with a man going in for his first anal probe. Other women readers, who endure internal exams every two years from early adulthood, may have the same issue, especially if you've also given birth. Boo hoo for him. There's also something vaguely homophobic about jokes involving men getting anally examined at the doctor's. This is *Friends* humour, and it's amazing how much humour has dated even since this book was published.
Elizabeth's News by Monica McInerney is the kind of story I like -- I have an interest in characters with rich inner lives -- a full on paracosm in Elizabeth's case. Too often in these stories the imaginative adult is punished for their fantasies at the end. McInerney avoids anything that obvious. In fact, this is a bit of a subversion of such stories. I kinda liked it.
Thomas Keneally's story is yet another narrative about a middle aged man grappling with full on ephebophilia -- a teacher with a hard on for a Sudanese immigrant child. The third person narrator tells us he is nevertheless a good teacher. I think we're meant to sympathise with him because he's self-aware. At the end he has this epiphany about trauma when he imagines the girl suckling at her mother's breast -- oh, yeah, she's actually a child after all! I really hated this story. I especially hate the title.
Melina Marchetta's short story is in fact an excerpt from a novel. It's very good YA with realistic dialogue but this 'short story' very much feels like a novel excerpt rather than a satisfying story in its own right. Also, it's yet another tale about sexual desire from a male point of view, which is fine in and of itself -- but fails to balance out other stories in this particular collection, despite the fifty fifty m/f gender balance of authors.
Anita Heiss wrote a story set in Canberra and -- this is a subversion in its own right -- the main character likes Canberra and doesn't want to leave! (Shhh. Don't let's tell everybody that Canberra is pretty great.) Turns out it's not really Canberra she wants to stay for, though, so her epiphany is a bit of a disappointment to be honest. This one is about female desire though. (The best friend somehow knows that Canberra has the highest number of lesbian couples in Australia but I wanted to yell that New York is great for dating... if you're a man! Doesn't everyone know that? I guess The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. hadn't come out at this point.)
Toni Jordan's story is a meet-cute romantic fantasy, with the tension heightened due to the fact it's taking place on an actual stage in front of a big audience. Similar in tone to the Anita Heiss story. (Is it just me or does Toni Jordan look eerily similar to Julia Gillard, especially in black and white?)
Letter From A Drunk To A Long Gone Wife is what it says on the tin, but with extra misery (because you can't have a title explaining the whole entire story, right?). A problem with entirely epistolary work: a whole lot of backstory that the addressee would surely know already. So it unfortunately feels written for the reader rather than for the fictional wife. All in all this letter is a bunch of misery with little reward. I don't give a shit about this dude.
Next time Dymocks asks me if I want the free kids' book or the free short story collection I'm taking the kids' book. Meh. Who am I kidding? These days I only ever buy through whoever's cheapest online (except f**king Amazon).
alivegurl's review
4.0
This is probably the quickest read I've had this year (so far). After reading book after book of disappointment, I was looking for something chill and easy to tackle. This book just happens to be lying around the house—so I took it. It was quite enjoyable and really interesting, because I've never read anything by any of these authors before, so I really had no expectations.
Since this is a relatively small book, I will also keep my review short. Here goes.
The book was rather nice. I like that it's relatively light—although definitely not for all ages, but also not too explicit—and that they are all good authors—no one shines too bright in comparison, I find. The plots are relatively well-written and, for short stories, well executed. I think one of them ended up being a novel in the end, but that is no longer part of this book. If there's anything I wish to change from this book, I wish there were more unique Australian things being included. I find only 3 out of 10 stories seem to have that—and one of them only rather briefly. But that doesn't really bother me all that much.
My favourite stories are Twelve Minutes, Elizabeth's News and Letter from a Drunk to a Long Gone Wife. They are the most brilliant!
Since this is a relatively small book, I will also keep my review short. Here goes.
The book was rather nice. I like that it's relatively light—although definitely not for all ages, but also not too explicit—and that they are all good authors—no one shines too bright in comparison, I find. The plots are relatively well-written and, for short stories, well executed. I think one of them ended up being a novel in the end, but that is no longer part of this book. If there's anything I wish to change from this book, I wish there were more unique Australian things being included. I find only 3 out of 10 stories seem to have that—and one of them only rather briefly. But that doesn't really bother me all that much.
My favourite stories are Twelve Minutes, Elizabeth's News and Letter from a Drunk to a Long Gone Wife. They are the most brilliant!
jamesflint's review
1.0
Rep: Chinese-Australian characters
i would be less angry about this rating if there wasn't ONE SINGLE STORY other than marchetta that i liked but as it is i'm pissed off
a view of mount warning by robert drewe ☆
- about a man who lusts after his best friend's wife
- both are disgusting misogynists
- she's so sexualised it's disgusting
- most of what he lusts after is because of her looks and her body ew
hate at first sight by kathy lette ☆☆
- the writing wasn't amazing
- i had a moment of panic that louise would try have an affair with her sister's fiance but thank god he was more sensible than that
- i spent the whole time wanting to shake louise to bring her to her senses but she eventually came to them
life in a hotel room by william mcinnes ☆
- a guy has a doctor stick his hand up his arse and has an epiphany
- that's fucking it i hate adult contemporary lit
elizabeth's news by monica mcinerney ☆
- an old woman writes christmas letters about a made up life
- it's lowkey boring i skimread a lot
ithaca in my mind by peter temple ☆
- arsehole author basically
- i hate stories about completely unlikeable characters they're boring
- i laughed at the end though because he got what he deserved
blackberries by tom keneally ☆
- can we stop with the old (married) teacher lusting after students crap it's gross
- also i'm pretty sure it was horrible and racist at times
twelve minutes by melina marchetta ☆☆☆☆☆
- thank god this was just a section of the piper's son because otherwise i'd have to keep this anthology despite the rubbish i'd sat through to this point
- reading it as a standalone story hurt more than reading the whole damn book istg
manhattan dreaming by anita heiss ☆
- i'm so angry i don't wanna read stories about women who deserve better pining after shithead men wtf
you can change your life by toni jordan ☆☆☆☆
- i'm literally so angry that this story got put in with the other shite ones it's so good
- fake dating!!
- i refuse to keep this shitty book just for this story i'm ANGRY
letter from a drunk to a long gone wife by jack marx ☆
- i will never read anything by this shithead author again
- stop trying to fucking make me feel sorry for an abuser!!!
- they say there is never an excuse for a man hitting a woman, but that's not strictly true. i can think of a few. burn in fucking hell
- not only is he a disgusting abuser, he fucking kills his wife (premeditatedly) and then fakes like she crashed her car!!! and he wants forgiveness for this!!!!
- go fuck yourself basically
i would be less angry about this rating if there wasn't ONE SINGLE STORY other than marchetta that i liked but as it is i'm pissed off
a view of mount warning by robert drewe ☆
- about a man who lusts after his best friend's wife
- both are disgusting misogynists
- she's so sexualised it's disgusting
- most of what he lusts after is because of her looks and her body ew
hate at first sight by kathy lette ☆☆
- the writing wasn't amazing
- i had a moment of panic that louise would try have an affair with her sister's fiance but thank god he was more sensible than that
- i spent the whole time wanting to shake louise to bring her to her senses but she eventually came to them
life in a hotel room by william mcinnes ☆
- a guy has a doctor stick his hand up his arse and has an epiphany
- that's fucking it i hate adult contemporary lit
elizabeth's news by monica mcinerney ☆
- an old woman writes christmas letters about a made up life
- it's lowkey boring i skimread a lot
ithaca in my mind by peter temple ☆
- arsehole author basically
- i hate stories about completely unlikeable characters they're boring
- i laughed at the end though because he got what he deserved
blackberries by tom keneally ☆
- can we stop with the old (married) teacher lusting after students crap it's gross
- also i'm pretty sure it was horrible and racist at times
twelve minutes by melina marchetta ☆☆☆☆☆
- thank god this was just a section of the piper's son because otherwise i'd have to keep this anthology despite the rubbish i'd sat through to this point
- reading it as a standalone story hurt more than reading the whole damn book istg
manhattan dreaming by anita heiss ☆
- i'm so angry i don't wanna read stories about women who deserve better pining after shithead men wtf
you can change your life by toni jordan ☆☆☆☆
- i'm literally so angry that this story got put in with the other shite ones it's so good
- fake dating!!
- i refuse to keep this shitty book just for this story i'm ANGRY
letter from a drunk to a long gone wife by jack marx ☆
- i will never read anything by this shithead author again
- stop trying to fucking make me feel sorry for an abuser!!!
- they say there is never an excuse for a man hitting a woman, but that's not strictly true. i can think of a few. burn in fucking hell
- not only is he a disgusting abuser, he fucking kills his wife (premeditatedly) and then fakes like she crashed her car!!! and he wants forgiveness for this!!!!
- go fuck yourself basically
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