What I bought today ...

So many selves by Gabrielle Carey

"... a person can find that he or she is composed, not of one singular fixed self, but of many selves ..."

In So many selves, Gabrielle Carey revisits some of the critical moments that shaped and defined her life

-from front endflap

Review: A Place on Earth: An anthology of nature writing from Australia and North America by Mark Tredinnick (ed.)

Writing about nature is in no way a new phenomena, although as the editor of this book, Mark Tredinnick, suggests, it is probably more common in America than here in Australia.

In this collection of essays and personal stories, Tredinnick explores the reason for this, and offers a comparison of American and Australian traditions of nature writing, with a discussion of authors from both countries that have helped shaped the genre.

The writers in this book are more contemporary, and many pieces have been written specifically for this collection.

But what exactly is nature writing? According to Tredinnick,

"The literature of nature has three main dimensions: natural history information, personal repsonses to nature, and philosophical interpretations of nature" (p.35)

We are given examples of all three forms in this book through the work of 26 different authors (12 Australian, 14 American). Some write about a particular place - Tasmania, Northern Australia, Oregon, Alaska; some write about natural features - wind, rain, mountains, oceans; and some about various plants and animals - pine forests, bears, fish, birds.

What we learn from each of these writers is that we are all a part of our environment, and we cannot separate ourselves from it without causing it and ourselves some damage.

As Tredinnick writes in his introduction:

'You cannot know me until you know the weather and the country that surround me, the trees and rocks and animals, as well as the people, that keep me company" (p.27)

In this age of greater environmental awareness, nature writing is bound to become a much more prevalent form in our society, and this book is a wonderful introduction to the tradition.

Review: The reasons I won't be coming by Elliot Perlman

Released after his award-winning novel 'Three Dollars' but before his massive work 'Seven types of ambiguity', this collection of short stories by Elliot Perlman shares many characteristics of both those other books.

Each of these nine stories, to my mind, deals with an aspect of loss - the loss of friends, lovers, family; the loss of innocence; the loss of hope and the loss of life. Perlman's great skill is in showing us how his characters deal with these dilemmas, or, in some cases, fail to deal with them.

In this respect the stories remind me very much of 'Three dollars'. I suspect that many of the stories were written before that first novel because you can see in them the development of Perlman's style. His writing is imbued with a deep social conscience, exploring the lives of those living on the fringes of society.

Perlman is obviously well read, his writing being littered with many obscure literary references, reminding me very much of his second novel 'Seven types of ambiguity', which referred to the work of William Empson (among many others). My favourite story in this collection is 'I was only in a childish way', which refers to the work of Russian poet Osip Mandelstam. I'd never heard of this writer, and one of the great strengths of Perlman's writing is that it inspires me to do further reading.

It's interesting to note also, that this story is one of few in this collection that contains a sizable portion of dialogue. I think some reviewers have criticised Perlman's writing for containing too much narration and not enough dialogue. While I enjoy all of Perlman's writing, I do think the inclusion of dialogue makes the story more readable.

If, like me, you've read Perlman's novels first, I think you will enjoy this collection of stories. If you haven't read any of his writing, then this is a great place to start.