Books
Public Enemies

Review: Public Enemies by Michel Houellebecq and Bernard-Henri Lévy

Contentious French thinkers Michel Houellebecq and Bernard-Henri Lévy fight back-to-back against their critics, mediocrity, and those not learned enough to understand all the footnotes.

gregory maguire out of oz cover

Review: Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire

While Gregory Maguire’s revisionist tales of Oz are witty, inventive and detailed, the dreary ending of his Wicked Years quadrilogy left us heavy-hearted.

david marr panic

Review: Panic by David Marr

Much more than a double-dip of previous publications, veteran journalist David Marr has revised and recontextualised his essays to map an alarming tendency in Australian culture.

A-Small-Book-About-Drugs

Review: A Small Book About Drugs by Lisa Pryor

You’d have to be high to deny that we need to discuss drug reform in this country. If only Lisa Pryor can get the hand-wringers to read a book with a baggie on the cover.

retromania-simon reynolds

Review: Retromania by Simon Reynolds

Esteemed UK critic Simon Reynolds shows off his record collection in this deep and sometimes murky reflection on five decades of retro-obsession in music.

a dance with dragons george rr martin

Review: A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin

At long last (and at 1040 pages long), this fifth novel in Martin’s epic medieval fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire isn’t the best yet, but rewardingly re-immerses readers in a richly evocative world.

machine man max barry cover

Review: Machine Man by Max Barry

Max Barry is known for his corporate satire, but this novel about a scientist who rebuilds himself is much more of a disquieting horror story.

Sex_At_Dawn_LR

Review: Sex At Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá

Smarty-pants science geeks demonstrate that we’re literally born to get our freak on anywhere and everywhere. It’s a revelation in guilt-free sexual freedom. Scientifically speaking, of course.

the elements of fucking style cover

Review: The Elements of F*cking Style by Chris Baker and Jacob Hansen

In making over Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style for the 21st century, Chris Baker and Jacob Hansen’s parody has revivified an important literary classic – without adding a single zombie, vampire or werewolf.