Amanda Knox’s Memoir: Waiting To Be Heard – A Review from Andrew Cattanach

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Andrew Cattanach

The Amanda Knox story remains one of the most curious events in recent legal history, appearing to come straight from the pages of the most ambitious thriller. Booktopia’s Andrew Cattanach reviews Amanda Knox’s memoir Waiting To Be Heard.

Here was Amanda Knox. A young, attractive American studying in Italy who had been found guilty of murdering her flatmate, Meredith Kercher. Her boyfriend and her employer, a local bar owner, her accomplices. Quite a story.

Needless to say, the press lapped it up. The prosecution got in on the mayhem too, argued many reasons for the violent crime ranging from a falling out over a cleaning roster to a sex game gone wrong.

Unlike many average-person-turned-infamous memoirs, Waiting to be Heard is incredibly interesting for two reasons. One, she is a talented writer. Those in the know say she insisted on writing it herself, and probably save for a few standard edits the words are hers, and the book is all the better for it. It’s clear she knows the speed with which to tell a story, even if the cliffhanger passages that wrap up chapters seem a little dramatic. She’s currently studying creative writing and no doubt has a novel in the works.

The other reason Waiting to be Heard is so interesting is, for even those who proclaimed her innocence, there have always been moments of “What were are you thinking?“

Like…..

When first found at the crime scene she was filmed passionately kissing her boyfriend.
What were you thinking?

When she was innocently questioned by police about her use of marijuana (which she later admitted was daily) and she said she’d done drugs before.
What were you thinking?

When, knowing the police were following her hours after the attack, she and her boyfriend went lingerie shopping.
What were you thinking?

When she started performing cartwheels and splits to various members of the police during questioning.
What were you thinking?

When she was wearing protective clothing to inspect the crime scene and started doing funny poses, laughing for the cameras.
What were you thinking?

When she accused her boss of murdering her friend, despite then writing a note hours later saying she lied.

Seriously, Amanda. What were you thinking?!

And thankfully these questions get answered, albeit with the excuse of a naïveté I doubt she possesses. I found myself constantly wondering throughout the book whether these strange actions were brain snaps, or if Knox was simply a playfully eccentric young woman who found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I have no doubt in my mind of her innocence, but there are still many that doubt her story. Either by chance or design, and while answering the questions we ask, Knox never really convinces you of the key points in her story. After reading the book, I found it created as many questions as it answered.

The arrest, trial, and retrial of Amanda Knox remains a moment that enthralled the world. And in Waiting To Be Heard, we have a book that matches the drama and tension of the event itself, which is no small feat.

Click here to buy Waiting To Be Heard from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

______________________________

Andrew Cattanach is a contributor to The Booktopia Blog and was shortlisted for The Age Short Story Prize. He enjoys complaining about the weather and wants more novels to involve crime-fighting chimpanzees.

You can read his other posts here, and follow his ramblings on twitter at @andrew__cat.

Filed under: Biography/Memoir, Book Recommendations | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Lorraine Elliott, author of Not Quite Nigella, answers Ten Terrifying Questions

Posted on May 16, 2013 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

not-quite-nigellaThe Booktopia Book Guru asks

Lorraine Elliott

author of Not Quite Nigella

Ten Terrifying Questions

——————————–

1.To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?

I was born in Darlinghurst, Sydney, and raised in Maroubra and then Kensington. I went to school at Sydney Girls’ High School where I was an average student at best!

2.What did you want to be when you were 12, 18 and 30? And why?

At 12, I wanted to be a beautician because I loved the idea of beautifying people or making them feel better. At 18, I knew that I didn’t want to become a psychologist despite the fact that I was studying it at university (alarm, yes!) and at 30, I thought I wanted to be an Advertising Media Director until I was told that I just really wasn’t ready to be that for another ten years or so.

3.What strongly held belief did you have at 18 that you do not have now?

When I was younger, I saw the world in black and white, good and bad and now I realise that people are really a mix of both but that most people try to be good.xl-lorraine-elliott-not-qui-460x458

4.What were three works of art – book or painting or piece of music, etc – you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced your own development as a writer?

I didn’t realise it at the time but Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Bites and How To Be a Domestic Goddess were really what I used as a template. Nigella has her own unmistakable voice but Nigella Bites was also a cookbook with fun -the Kitsch chapter for example. And How To Be a Domestic Goddess was devoted to baking, an exploit which I am similarly enamoured of.

5.Considering the innumerable artistic avenues open to you, why did you choose to write a novel?

Quite honestly, I can’t sing or dance and I’m tone deaf! I never thought that I enjoyed writing until I started blogging and I’m in love with words all over again.

not-quite-nigella6.Please tell us about your latest book…

It’s a memoir based on my life before and during the blog. It details how I went from a corporate job to finding something that I truly love. It’s not a cookbook but there are about a dozen recipes slotted in at the end of chapters where appropriate.

Click here to buy Not Quite Nigella from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

7.What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?

I hope they understand blogging a bit more, are entertained and perhaps inspired!

8.Whom do you most admire in the realm of writing and why?

There are so many great authors that it’s hard to pin point one that I admire. But I do love J.K. Rowling because she has such a wonderful imagination and created a world in which I wanted to dwell.

9.Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?

It may sound disingenuous but I haven’t really set myself up with any goals. I think goals can almost limit you. That doesn’t mean to say that I’m not ambitious, but my ambition is to blog well and choose the right opportunities for myself, but I don’t have any set ambitions.

10.What advice do you give aspiring writers?

Never give up. And it’s never too late to discover that you love writing.

Lorraine, thank you for playing.

Click here to buy Not Quite Nigella from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

Filed under: Australian Author, Author Interview, Biography/Memoir, Food and drink, Non Fiction, Women, Writing tips | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Divinyls singer Chrissy Amphlett passes away, aged 53.

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Andrew Cattanach

Sad news from New York this afternoon as word filtered through that Divinyls singer Chrissy Amphlett has passed away aged 53. 

Amphlett lived in New York with her husband, former Divinyls drummer Charley Drayton. She had revealed in 2010 that she had breast cancer, and she had also battled multiple sclerosis, although the extent of which was unknown for much of the general public.

Amphlett was the cousin of 1960′s icon “Little Pattie” Thompson, and inspired a generation of Australians as lead singer of the Divinyls, who formed in 1980.

The screen adaptation of Helen Garner’s brilliant novel Monkey Grip would prove the catalyst for the Divinyls early success, featuring their first hits Boys in Town and Only Lonely.

Her cousin, Patricia ‘Little Pattie’ Thompson and family have released the following statement.

“Our beloved Chrissy peacefully made her transition this morning. Christine Joy Amphlett succumbed to the effects of breast cancer and multiple sclerosis, diseases she vigorously fought with exceptional bravery and dignity. She passed gently, in her sleep, surrounded by close friends and family, including husband of fourteen years, musician Charley Drayton, her sister, Leigh, nephew, Matt, and cousin Patricia Thompson (“Little Pattie”).

“Chrissy’s light burns so very brightly. Hers was a life of passion and creativity; she always lived it to the fullest. With her force of character and vocal strength she paved the way for strong, sexy, outspoken women. Best remembered as the lead singer of the ARIA Hall of Fame inductee, Divinyls, last month she was named one of Australia’s top ten singers of all time. Chrissy expressed hope that her worldwide hit I Touch Myself would remind women to perform annual breast examinations. Chrissy was a true pioneer and a treasure to all whose lives her music and spirit touched.”

_______________

Click here to buy Chrissy Amphlett’s autobiography Pleasure and Pain
 from Booktopia, Australia’s Local Bookstore

Filed under: Australian Author, Biography/Memoir | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Annabelle Brayley, editor of Bush Nurses, answers Ten Terrifying Questions

Posted on April 9, 2013 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

The Booktopia Book Guru asks

Annabelle Brayley

editor of Bush Nurses

Ten Terrifying Questions

 —————————-

1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?

I was born and raised with four brothers on the western Darling Downs in Queensland; and schooled at the local state primary school then as a boarder at St Margaret’s Girls School, Brisbane.

2. What did you want to be when you were 12, 18 and 30? And why?

12: Not sure

18: Hair dresser- it appealed to my creative, chatty side I think. I liked the idea of hearing people’s stories and doesn’t everyone tell their hairdresser everything?

By 50: I wanted to be a published storyteller.

3. What strongly held belief did you have at 18 that you do not have now?

I believed people were lucky when I was young. Now I know you make your own luck by recognising opportunities and making the most of them.

4. What were three big events – in the family circle or on the world stage or in your reading life, for example – you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced you in your career path?

1. My mother reading us The Hobbit and all the Australian children’s classics…Seven Little Australians, the Billabong books etc. when we were kids.

2. Reading Pieces of Blue by Kerry McGuiness. It was/is a really beautiful piece of writing about life in outback Australia. It inspired me to keep writing and pitching.

3 Mark Muller, Editor of RM William’s OUTBACK Magazine giving me a break and publishing my first story in the magazine in 2006.

5. Considering the innumerable electronic media avenues open to you – blogs, online newspapers, TV, radio, etc – why have you chosen to write a book? Aren’t they obsolete?

Absolutely not! Nothing beats the feel of a real book, actually physically turning the pages to journey through the story. It’s a partnership with the author that just doesn’t work electronically.

6. Please tell us about your latest book…

It’s a collection of stories about nurses who work/have worked in rural and remote areas of Australia. Their amazing stories, some of which are hair-raising, some funny, some sad, reflect the enormous contribution nurses have made to the medical, social and economic wellbeing and sustainability of the outback.

From The Publisher:

It takes something special to be a bush nurse working in rural and remote Australia. These remarkable women patch people up and keep them alive while waiting for the doctor to arrive. They drive the ambulances, operate the clinics and deliver the babies. They are on call around the clock and there are no days off. They often make do with whatever is at hand while working in some of the most isolated places on the planet.

Be they devastating family tragedies, close scrapes with bushfires or encounters with true larrikins of the outback, some stories will make your hair stand on end, others will make you laugh and some will make your cry. With tales from Birdsville to Bedourie, Oodnadatta to Uluru, you’ll be amazed at the courage and resourcefulness of these nurses who have been the backbone of medical practice in remote Australia for more than a hundred years.

Click here to buy Bush Nurses from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

7. If Bush Nurses could change one thing in this world – what would it be?

People’s understanding and appreciation of rural and remote nurses and the work they do in the outback. They are usually multi skilled and extraordinarily well qualified because of the broad range of their experience. Often they are the only immediate medical help available.

8. Whom do you most admire and why?

• Peter Ford (CEO Control Bionics)… brilliant, focused, compassionate, imaginative and courageous.

• Jessica Watson…young Australian yachtsman…focused, resilient, determined to follow her dream.

• The young Royals…displaying grace under the most extreme pressure.

9. Many people set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?

To make a living out of writing.

10. What advice do you give aspiring writers?

Don’t give up on your dream and write about what you know (unless you’re into fantasy). Keep pitching and recognise the potential of any opportunity presented to you.

Annabelle, thank you for playing.

Click here to buy Bush Nurses from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

Filed under: Australian Author, Author Interview, Biography/Memoir, Women, Writing tips | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

The Vogue Factor continues to create headlines worldwide

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Andrew Cattanach

If you haven’t read Kirstie Clements’ memoir The Vogue Factor you must. It’s all the things you wanted to know about the fashion industry and more.

Clements has created a sensation internationally with her tell-all book of an industry whose inner-workings are as strange and shocking as any around. The Devil Wears Prada has nothing on The Vogue Factor.

The most refreshing part of The Vogue Factor is it’s not a model’s ghost written autobiography, or a B-Grade fashion photographer settling old scores. Kirstie Clements was the editor of Vogue Australia for 13 years, and sees the fashion world through a different set of eyes.

During her US book tour she’s been interviewed by Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight and The Huffington Post. She also was featured in the UK’s Daily Mail yesterday, the article can be seen below.

It’s the Australian book that has the world talking, don’t miss your chance to grab a copy from Booktopia today.

Click here to buy The Vogue Factor from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

The Vogue Factor

In May 2012 Kirstie Clements was unceremoniously sacked after thirteen years in the editor’s chair at Vogue Australia. Here she tells the story behind the headlines, and takes us behind the scenes of a fast-changing industry.

During a career at Vogue that spanned twenty-five years, Clements rubbed shoulders with Karl Lagerfeld, Kylie Minogue, Ian Thorpe, Crown Princess Mary, Cate Blanchett, and many more shining stars. From her humble beginnings growing up in the Sutherland Shire in Sydney to her brilliant career as a passionate and fierce custodian of the world’s most famous luxury magazine brand, Clements warmly invites us into her Vogue world, a universe that brims with dazzling celebrities, fabulous lunches, exotic locales and of course, outrageous fashion.

Amidst the exhilaration and chaos of modern magazine publishing and the frenzied demands of her job, Clements is always steadfast in her dedication to quality. Above all, she is always Vogue.

About the Author

Kirstie Clements began working at Vogue in 1985, rising to editor in 1999, a position she held until 2012. She co-authored In Vogue, 50 Years of Australian Style, with Lee Tulloch. She was a columnist with Sunday Telegraph from 2010-2012 and a judge on Australia’s Next Top Model. She is married with 17-year-old twin sons.

Click here to buy The Vogue Factor from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

Read the Daily Mail’s article about The Vogue Factor here

Filed under: Australian Author, Biography/Memoir, Book Recommendations, Book Talk, Fashion | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

The world mourns the death of cricket legend Tony Greig

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Andrew Cattanach

The Soundtrack of Summer will never be the same as news filters through of the death of former England captain and respected commentator Tony Greig. Many Australians first saw him in his youth as the stubborn resistor of our mighty bowling attack in the 1970′s, a cunning medium-pace bowler and a fielder not to be trifled with.

All this was to change with the advent of World Series cricket which lit up the cricketing landscape. After his retirement he switched to commentary and never looked back, becoming a national identity in Australia, from foe to friend in our living rooms. His role in the cricket revolution and sacrifices he made was brilliantly portrayed in the recent mini-series Howzat: Kerry Packer’s War.

His views on the game became stuff of legend, full of good humour and rich insight while his enthusiasm for the Australian way of life never ceased throughout his life.

A legend of the game of cricket and sports broadcasting, Tony Greig lost his battle with lung cancer at the age of 66.

FROM THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Greig, who played a senior role in Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket revolution and was a distinctive voice in cricket broadcasting, was diagnosed with the illness in October.

He did not join the Channel Nine commentary team this summer.

Born in Queenstown, South Africa, he trialled for Sussex in 1965 as a teenager and set himself the goal of representing England, which he did in 58 Tests between 1972 and 1977.

Filed under: Biography/Memoir | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

REVIEW: On Warne (Review by Andrew Cattanach)

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Andrew Cattanach

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS GRATUITOUS MAN LOVE.

Imagine two men. One capable of changing history with drift and turn from the rough, the other capable of making it riveting to those who think drift and turn from the rough was illegal in Tasmania until 1997. Imagine they meet, one as artist, the other his subject. Imagine no longer.

I will say from the outset that I think Gideon Haigh is the cat’s pyjamas. His writing has enthralled me for many years and a better wordsmith equipped with knowledge of the Duckworth-Lewis system there is not. His catalogue of writing on subjects other than cricket (I’m looking at you The Office) is worthy of hearty literary servitude, however his musings on the mystical art of bat and ball are simply peerless. He is at the front, speeding away. Daylight is a distant second.

The same can be said of the Sultan of Spin, Shane Warne. Once a full-time cricketer/part-time celebrity and now a full-time celebrity/part-time cricketer. Once he had a case of VB on his arm where Liz Hurley now resides, and for all the battering headlines and inescapable SMS-capades he seems to be doing better than ever. I feel I’m not alone in asking, precisely in the name of the lord, how?

I’ll warn those who do cartwheels when reading of mudslinging there is little of it in the folds of this book. This book is far, far better than that. For all of Haigh’s occasional excursions into Warne’s personal life, one that cast such a shadow over his achievements and eventual captaincy aspirations; rumours are treated as rumours and facts respected as fact. Haigh is clearly not here to make friends though via his measured, thoughtful insight he is unlikely to make any enemies either.

On Warne is a relentless page turner, a lamentable rarity in today’s sporting catalogue about to fill Santa-faced stockings throughout the country. Split into sections exploring the beginnings of Warne’s career, his rise to national honours, his turbulent personal life, the relationships with team mates and the press. On Warne never has a dull moment much like the man. Lest we forget Shane Warne has been both the highest paid cricketer of his generation and also a prime-time talk show host, albeit one whose weaknesses were widely-documented.

Cricket brings out your deepest secrets and lays them on the pitch. How you play the game is an intimate expression of who you are. Should you wander past a suburban cricket ground and see a figure, cap on, charging the bowler, swinging wildly at the ball, throwing caution to the wind you can bet he won’t come off and dive into a copy of War and Peace. Similarly a bowler who takes near hours to meticulously set his field, mechanically sprint up and deliver a spell of slow-medium bowling that could hit a five cent piece at will is unlikely to be up on drunk and disorderly charges anytime soon. So where does the line between Shane Warne, the womanising drunkard begin and Shane Warne, one of the most intelligent bowlers and most astute captains of our time end? Where does it begin to blur, or are they somehow one in the same?

Part biography, part essay, part coaching manual, part anthropological study, On Warne is so many things. For the cricket lover it is the one book that breaks barriers down between the freakish ability of Warne and the simplicity of a man who loves his craft like few others. For the cricket novice there is no finer chronicle of the moments he created and the men he embraced and spurned alike.

But most of all, for those who don’t understand why Shane Warne continues to be such a topic of discourse,  I can think of no better place to point you than Gideon Haigh’s On Warne.

Click here to buy On Warne from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

Click here to read all of Andrew’s Posts. Click here to follow Andrew on twitter.

Filed under: Australian Author, Biography/Memoir, Book Recommendations, Christmas Gift Ideas, Sport, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

VIDEO INTERVIEW: Caroline Baum talks to Judith Lucy – Australia Funniest Spiritual Guide

Posted on November 26, 2012 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

DRINK, SMOKE, PASS OUT – An Unlikely Spiritual Journey

by Judith Lucy

Caroline Baum: I wasn’t sure whether Judith Lucy’s deadpan drollery would work as well on the page as it does in her stand up shows and TV series. But the good news is it does. She had me giggling helplessly in chapter one, and it doesn’t let up.

She doesn’t spare herself. In fact she lays herself bare in all her drunken mess as she stumbles and staggers her way towards spiritual enlightenment. Intoxicated, needy, confused, vulnerable and endowed with a heightened sense of absurdity which just about rescues her from toppling over the edge, she is raw in her revelations without it ever feeling ickily self-indulgent as it would if she were some gushy over-sharing US soapie star .

You don’t have to be on a search for meaning or interested in religious belief to find this highly entertaining – sceptics and heathens included.

Blurb: At last, a book about life that discusses liquor and lovemaking as much as it does the point of it all.

Judith Lucy has looked everywhere for happiness. Growing up a Catholic, she thought about becoming a nun, and later threw herself into work, finding a partner and getting off her face. Somehow, none of that worked.

So lately, she’s been asking herself the big questions. Why are we here? Is there a God? What happens when we die? And why can’t she tell you what her close friends believe in, but she can tell you which ones have herpes? No-one could have been more surprised than Judith when she started to find solace and meaning in yoga and meditation, and a newfound appreciation for what others get from their religion.

In her first volume of memoir, the bestselling The Lucy Family Alphabet, Judith dealt with her parents. In Drink, Smoke, Pass Out, she tries to find out if there’s more to life than wanting to suck tequila out of Ryan Gosling’s navel. With disarming frankness and classic dry wit, she reviews the major paths of her life and, alarmingly, finds herself on a journey.

Click here to buy Drink, Smoke, Pass Out from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

Filed under: Australian Author, Author Interview, Biography/Memoir, Book Recommendations, Philosophy, Religion, Self-help and Motivation | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Matthew Mitcham, Olympic Gold Medallist and author of Twists and Turns, answers Ten Terrifying Questions

Posted on November 23, 2012 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

 The Booktopia Book Guru asks

Matthew Mitcham

Olympic Gold Medallist
and author of Twists and Turns

Ten Terrifying Questions

 ————————

1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?

All in Brisbane. QEII (coopers plains), raised in Camp Hill (I had no chance to be straight!) educated at Mansfield SHS.

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?

12: rich, 18: famous. 30: rich and famous.

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?

I thought that you only go through depression once in your life. I didn’t realise you actually have to work on mental health.

4. What were three big events – in the family circle or on the world stage or in your reading life, for example – you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced you in your career path?

Reading Agassi’s biography OPEN, Greg Louganis’s biography BREAKING THE SURFACE and reading about Fergie’s struggles all helped mould what I did with the last five years of my life.

5. Considering the innumerable electronic media avenues open to you – blogs, online newspapers, TV, radio, etc – why have you chosen to write a book? Aren’t they obsolete?

There is something really satisfying about holding a book and turning the pages. But we’ve covered all our bases by releasing it in electronic format as well!

6. Please tell us about your latest book…

It’s the story of my life from birth to present, with absolutely no omissions whatsoever (after all, 24 is really young to write a book!) but it is a very warts-and-all biography, talking about everything from sports to depression, living like a caveman, coming to terms with sexuality, and all the (mis)adventures in between.

(BBGuru: here is the publisher’s blurb - People kept remarking on how they were surprised that a gold medal and fame hadn’t changed me. I always responded, ‘Why would I change? Being me is the easiest person to be.

I was lying. It wasn’t.

At the Beijing Olympic Games, he made history with an unforgettable dive, the first to ever score perfect tens from all four judges, and won gold for Australia.

Grinning with pride from front pages around the world, there was no hint of the personal demons that had led this supremely talented young dynamo to quit diving less than two years before.

Joyously out and proud, Matthew was a role model for his courage both in and out of the pool. Yet the crippling self-doubt and shadow of depression that had plagued him all his life forced him into premature retirement, at one point reduced to circus diving to earn money.

Even after Beijing and being ranked No 1 in the world, those closest to Matthew could not guess that beneath that cheeky, fun-loving exterior he was painfully aware of how easily it could unravel.

In the lead-up to the London Olympics, when injury threatened his hopes, he will have to find the strength again to balance his striving for perfectionism with the fear of his self-doubt taking hold again.

Told with the honesty and courage he is admired for, Twists and Turns is an inspiring story of a true champion, in and out of the pool. )

Click here to buy Twists and Turns from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

7. If your work could change one thing in this world – what would it be?

To de-stigmatise mental illness so that people feel more comfortable reaching out and seeking the help they need.

8. Whom do you most admire and why?

Too. Many. People. I like to see the best in people and strive to emulate those qualities that I admire in others. But mostly Stephen Fry.

9. Many people set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?

To be rich and famous by 30. Is that too much to ask?

10. What advice do you give aspiring writers?

Let your personality translate through your writing. Write the book that you’d want to read.

Matthew, thank you for playing.

Click here to buy Twists and Turns from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

Filed under: Australian Author, Author Interview, Biography/Memoir, Book Trailer, Sport | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

Robert Drewe on drowning, sharks and other watery obsessions…. (In an Interview with Caroline Baum)

Posted on November 19, 2012 by John Purcell, The Booktopia Book Guru

Montebello : A Memoir

by Robert Drewe

Listen to me,’ my mother says. ‘They’ve let off an atom bomb today. Right here in W.A. Atom bombs worry the blazes out of me, and I want you at home.’

In the sleepy and conservative 1950s the British began a series of nuclear tests in the Montebello archipelago off the west coast of Australia. Even today, few people know about the three huge atom bombs that were detonated there, but they lodged in the consciousness of the young Robert Drewe and would linger with him for years to come.

In this moving sequel to The Shark Net, and with his characteristic frankness, humour and cinematic imagery, Drewe travels to the Montebellos to visit the territory that has held his imagination since childhood. He soon finds himself overtaken by memories and reflections on his own ‘islomania’. In the aftermath of both man-made and natural events that have left a permanent mark on the Australian landscape and psyche – from nuclear tests and the mining boom to shark attacks along the coast – Drewe examines how comfortable and familiar terrain can quickly become a site of danger, and how regeneration and love can emerge from chaos and loss.

Click here to buy Montebello from Booktopia,
Australia’s Local Bookstore

Extract:

1 The Fats Domino Voice

It was that fabled occasion, a dark and stormy night, the sea just a blacker inked line in the distance, and I was lying in bed in the deep gloom of three a.m., singing Blueberry Hill in my Fats Domino voice.

We were on the trailing edge of a cyclone and wind buffeted the timbers of my rented cottage on the cliff edge at Broken Head. The house’s rocking gave the sensation of being in a sailing ship. Palm fronds lashed and rasped against the window, more rain, endless rain, thundered on the tin roof, and I’d hardly have been surprised if the cottage, an architectural folly that resembled a nineteenth-century schooner almost as much as a house, sailed over the cliff onto the sodden sugarcane fields below.

If we’re speaking of the true life, of genuine self-awareness, it was a night of pivotal moments when things could go either way. I could either plummet to the depths or shape up, brush myself down, pick myself up, pull my finger out, turn a frown upside down. Basically, get a grip. The odds at that stage favoured plummeting.

Anna, my anxious seven-year-old daughter and my youngest child, was insisting I sing to her, and had chosen the song. As the rain crashed down, she complained, ‘You need to sing louder.’ If I sang any louder I’d lose the throaty timbre of Fats Domino. Anyway my breathing was still shallow and irregular because I’d just killed a brown snake by her bedroom. read more…

Filed under: Australian Author, Author Interview, Biography/Memoir, Book Recommendations | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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