The Australian Literary Review

From the ‘where has Nicholas Gruen been?’ department I just thought I’d mention, in the spirit of Missing Link, that I happened upon a stray copy of the ALR at Melbourne Uni the other day. It is now several weeks since it came out. I read what I think was the first of the editions quite a few months ago and it was pretty dull (though it got me going on with some reading that was pretty good news – on primates and the development of language – confirming (you guessed it) that it was all in Adam Smith.

Even so, not being a regular Oz reader, I have it in my diary to try to buy on on the first Wednesday of each month when it graces our newsagents. I missed it this time and read on some blog somewhere that it this months was another dull brew.

Well I’m here to tell you having read it on the tram today that it was not dull at all. It’s great reading. In has two ‘essays of the book’ by the authors of two books that I’ll probably never get round to reading . Louis Nowra’s harrowing expose of Aboriginal violence and sexual abuse and John Carroll’s book on Mark’s portrayal of an ‘existential Jesus’. There’s Max Corden on Ian Macfarlane’s Boyer lectures (I can’t find a link but it is available somewhere on the net because I’ve seen it there) and a rather good demolition job on Kevin Donelly by Stuart Macintyre (though I didn’t expect to like it from the first few paras).

So go and check it out – or have a squiz at some of the links.  Louis Nowra is a must read in my view.