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Peter Carey: ‘I don’t think we’re going to lose great literature because Philip Roth acted like an a---hole’
The Australian novelist says social change is overdue but there are “a lot of wrongs being done in the name of justice”.
- by Melanie Kembrey
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What happens when one of the world’s most debated authors meets one of its most celebrated biographers?
The life of Philip Roth was a story. So was the writing of his biography.
- by Hillel Italie
Douglas Stuart: ‘It felt like I’d suddenly overshared in the most grotesque way’
Last year’s Booker Prize winner also discusses how he handled the grief of losing two parents by his teen years, voting in the US, and why the Booker’s right where it should be.
- by Benjamin Law
Does Philip Roth still deserve to be read?
A new biography of the American novelist reveals what his readers already knew – he was obsessed with sex.
- by Jason Steger
REVIEW
Literature
What happened after 9/11 to Muslim youth in Australia
Randa Abdel-Fattah looks at how the attacks on New York nearly 20 years ago affected young Australians who grew up in their aftermath.
- by Adalya Nash Hussein
TURNING PAGES
Literature
Don’t worry about what’s next, it’s what came before that counts
Writers have long been intrigued by creating prequels to their own books or those by other authors.
- by Jane Sullivan
REVIEW
Literature
Take your pick: our reviewers’ guide to eight new books
With shorter days and cooler weather, it’s a great time to get stuck into some new books. If you’re not sure what to read next, our reviewers offer their takes on these eight, both fiction and non-fiction
- by Kerryn Goldsworthy and Steven Carroll
REVIEW
Literature
Motherhood, truth, love and guilt: the ingredients of a cracking novel
Jacqueline Maley’s first novel has at its heart a journalist whose story has prompted its subject to take her own life. And that’s just the start.
- by Dianne Dempsey
‘Walking around with a lovely secret’: Jacqueline Maley’s first fiction
You witness a particular kind of squirm in the seat when the storyteller becomes the story.
- by Melanie Kembrey
‘Correct’ pronunciation is off the menu. How about a poke bowl?
My friends are disappointed that I can’t properly answer a word-nerd question, as if I’ve failed my calling. Maybe I need a new hustle. Soon a wave of Google checks will give them the answer I couldn’t.
- by David Astle
REVIEW
Leonard Cohen
The many voices that get in the way of the real Leonard Cohen
The first volume of a massive oral biography of the Canadian singer-songwriter is really nothing but excess baggage.
- by Michael Dwyer