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Stillways: a memoir
By Steve Bisley. 2013
From one of Australia’s favourite actors comes a classic memoir of an Australian childhood in the sixties.Young Steve was a…
larrikin, happy-go-lucky, resilient kid, coming of age in a simpler time. Growing up on a farm cut from virgin scrub at the end of a lake, a farm called Stillways, Steve daydreamed about cars and escape.His story is about him heroworshipping his older brother with Brylcreem in his hair; going to school as a young kid with bus money knotted into a hanky and clutching his Globite schoolcase; fighting bullies at school and dreaming about girls; being amazed at the first television in town; remembering where he was when Marilyn Monroe died. But there’s a darker thread running through the story: the father who’d take out his frustrations by savagely belting his young children; a struggling mother who’d do anything to protect her kids; a young boy irrevocably marked by his father’s anger.Under the wintamarra tree
By Doris Pilkington. 2002
Doris Pilkington Garimara was born on traditional birthing ground under the Wintamarra tree. This is her life story, which follows…
on from the story of her mother Molly, told in Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence. Taken from her family by authorities as a three-year -old, Doris tells her story as an institutional orphan through to her training as a nurses' aide, and finally, her decision as an adult to trace her mother and father.How to walk a puma: my (mis)adventures in South America
By Peter Allison. 2012
Not content with regular encounters with dangerous animals on one continent, Peter Allison decided to get up close and personal…
with some seriously scary animals on another. Unlike in Africa, where all Peter's experiences had been safari based, he planned to vary things up in South America, getting involved with conservation projects as well as seeking out 'the wildest and rarest wildlife experiences on offer'.From learning to walk - or rather be bitten and dragged along at speed by - a puma in Bolivia, to searching for elusive jaguars in Brazil, finding love in Patagonia, and hunting naked with the remote Huaorani people in Ecuador, How to Walk a Puma is Peter's fascinating and often hilarious account of his adventures and misadventures in South America.When it rains: a memoir
By Maggie MacKellar. 2010
'My body, suddenly, carries two stories of loss... One is easy for people to recognise. My mother died of cancer.…
I watched her age twenty-five years in eight weeks... My other story marks me as different. It is more silent and more savage, it is not pure and no one knows how to approach it. Somewhere I lost my husband.' When Maggie's vibrant young husband, father to a five-year-old daughter and an unborn son, dies tragically, Maggie is left widowed and due to give birth three months later to their second child. Then her beloved mother, backbone of the family, mother to three children, grandmother to two, dies suddenly of aggressive cancer. In two short years, Maggie's life has shattered. After a year, she gives up trying to juggle single motherhood and the demands of an academic career and returns with her children to the family farm in central western New South Wales to take stock and catch a breath. The farm becomes a redemptive, healing place for Maggie and her children as they battle the heat and drought that only the Australian landscape can offer. She throws herself into the horses, sheep, ducks and chickens and slowly, finally, realises she has found a new shape for herself.Lunatic soup: inside the madness of maximum security
By Andrew Fraser. 2008
At the top of his game, top defence lawyer Andrew Fraser saw cocaine as another trapping of success. He didn't…
realise it would lead him into a $1000-a-day drug habit that would land him in prison. Convicted and disbarred, Fraser became the confidant of one of Australia's most notorious serial killers, Peter Dupas. What he learned made him the Homicide Squad's secret weapon. Fraser paints a vivid picture of the grim, terrifying and futile reality of maximum-security prison life and of his time spent with the murderers, psychopaths and paedophiles. Lunatic Soup relates his harrowing experiences of the justice system, as a prisoner, and on the stand as a witness in a murder trial.Worse things happen at sea: tales of life, love, family and the everyday beauty in between
By William McInnes. 2011
In William s first book A Man's Got to Have a Hobby he wrote about family life in the 1960s…
with humour, affection and honesty. Worse Things Happen at Sea does the same for family life in 2000s; written by William and Sarah in a way that many Australians can relate to and enjoy. This book celebrates the wonderful, messy, haphazard things in life -- bringing home babies from hospital, being a friend, a parent, son or daughter, and dog obedience classes. It's about living for twenty years in the family home, raising children there, chasing angry rabbits around the backyard, renovations that never end. It is also about understanding that sometimes you have to say goodbye; that is part of life too.Guantanamo: my journey
By Paul Kennedy, David Hicks. 2010
In 1999 a young man from suburban Adelaide set out on an overseas trip that would change his life forever.Initially,…
he was after adventure and the experience of travelling the Silk Road. But events would set him on a different path. He would be deemed a terrorist, one of George W Bush's 'worst of the worst'. He would be incarcerated in the world's most notorious prison, Guantanamo Bay. And in that place where, according to an interrogator in Abu Ghraib, 'even dogs won't live', he was to languish for five and a half years, suffering horror, torture and abuse, while Australians were told who he was - by politicians, the media and foreign governments.Everyone had an opinion on him.But only he knows the truth.And now, for the first time, David Hicks tells his story.Hell on the way to Heaven: An Australian Mother's Love - The Power Of The Catholic Church, And A Fight For Justice Over Child Sexual Abuse
By Paul Kennedy, Chrissie Foster. 2010
An Australian mother's love. The power of the Catholic Church. A fight for justice over child sexual abuse. Chrissie and…
Anthony Foster were like any other young family, raising their three daughters in suburban Melbourne with what they hoped were the right values. Chrissie could not have known that the stranger-danger she feared actually lurked in the presbytery attached to the girls' Catholic primary school. Father Kevin O'Donnell, a long-term paedophile, lived and worked there. Two of their young daughters became victims of O'Donnell. And once the truth was revealed, the Fosters began a battle to find out how this could have happened. The Church offered silence, lies, denials and threats. Meanwhile, their daughters tried to piece together their fractured lives.This is the chilling true story that made national and international headlines. Chrissie Foster's heartbreaking account of her family's suffering, and their determination to stand up for themselves against the might of the Catholic Church, is testament to the strength of a mother's love, and the resilience of the human spirit.Gazing at the stars: memories of a child survivor
By Eva Slonim. 2014
In March 1939, seven-year-old Eva Weiss's innocence was shattered by Germany's invasion of her homeland, Slovakia. Over the next five…
years, as the Nazi persecution of Europe's Jews gathered momentum, Eva's parents were forced to send their children into hiding, but she and her sister Marta could not avoid capture. In this remarkable memoir, Eva recounts her experiences at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. There, she witnessed countless horrors and was herself subjected to torture, extreme deprivation, and medical experimentation at the hands of the notorious Dr Josef Mengele. When the Soviet army liberated the survivors of Auschwitz early in 1945, Eva and Marta faced a new challenge: crossing war-torn Europe to be reunited with their family. Narrated with the heartbreaking innocence of a young girl and the wisdom of a woman of eighty-three, Gazing at the Stars is a record of survival in the face of unimaginable evil. It is the culmination of Eva Slonim's lifelong commitment to educating the world about the Holocaust, and to keeping alive the memory of the many who perished.When the dust settles: A Memoir Of A Life Lost, And Found Again, On Australia's Most Remote Cattle Station
By Rob Cook, Carl Curtain. 2013
When third generation Northern Territory cattleman Rob Cook set out on a routine mustering job in a chopper it was…
a day in the outback like any other, but when the chopper suddenly fell out of the sky, smashing into the ground, it was the day that changed everything. This one-time professional bull-rider had been in scrapes before - he had miraculously walked away from a previous crash in his beloved Gyro, but this time it was different. This time there was no walking away. Seven hours later he was rescued from the wreck on one of Australia's most remote cattle stations, Suplejack Downs Station, and his journey back to life, his young family and the way of life he loved had only just begun. When the Dust Settles is the extraordinary story of cattleman Rob Cook's journey back to life from a catastrophic helicopter accident that left him paralysed - it is also the story of Suplejack Downs Station and one of Australia's most remarkable and resilient bush dynasties.The horse boy: a father's quest to heal his son
By Rupert Isaacson. 2009
When his son Rowan was diagnosed with autism Rupert Isaacson was devastated, fearing he would never be able to communicate…
with his child. Then two things happened. Rowan made an unlikely connection with a group of visiting traditional healers; and Rupert, a lifelong horseman, went riding with his son. The improvement each time was so striking that Rupert Isaacson came up with a crazy idea. There is one place, one culture, in the world where horses and shamanic healing intersect. Why not take Rowan there - to Mongolia? The Horse Boy is the dramatic story of that impossible adventure. In Mongolia, the family found undreamed of landscapes and people, unbearable setbacks, and advances beyond their wildest dreams.Growing up Asian in Australia
By Alice Pung. 2008
Asian-Australians have often been written about by outsiders, as outsiders. In this collection they tell their own stories with verve,…
courage and a large dose of humour. These are not predictable tales of food, festivals and traditional dress. The food is here in all its steaming glory - but listen more closely to the dinner-table chatter and you might be surprised by what you hear. Here are tales of leaving home, falling in love, coming out and finding one’s feet. A young Cindy Pan vows to win every single category of Nobel Prize. Tony Ayres blows a kiss to a skinhead and lives to tell the tale. Benjamin Law has a close encounter with some angry Australian fauna, and Kylie Kwong makes a moving pilgrimage to her great-grandfather’s Chinese village. Here are well-known authors and exciting new voices, spanning several generations and drawn from all over Australia. In sharing their stories, they show us what it is really like to grow up Asian, and Australian. Contributors include: Shaun Tan, Jason Yat-Sen Li, John So, Annette Shun Wah, Quan Yeomans, Jenny Kee, Anh Do, Khoa Do, Caroline Tran and many more.Antarctic writer on ice: diary of an enduring adventure
By Hazel Edwards. 2002
With her ship, the Polar Bird, trapped in ice for weeks, Hazel Edwards compiled this e-diary using only the limited…
email resources available following the collapse of her laptop computer. She kept up correspondence with family and friends, fulfilled publishing commitments to newspapers and magazines as well as conducting polar radio interviews. To relieve the inactivity and close confinement of an ice beset ship, she created 'The Lachieberg' a personalised iceberg story which expeditioners could email to their children, started belly dancing classes and even conducted a virtual book launch.Don't look behind you but...: tales from an African safari guide
By Peter Allison. 2009
It shouldn't be fun to be chased by an animal that outweighs you by a factor of seventy, but Peter…
Allison gets an odd thrill every time an elephant charges his beaten-up jeep or a peckish crocodile looks at him sideways. And now our favourite safari leader is back with more crazy, incredible, endearing and laugh-out-loud funny tales from his time guiding unsuspecting tourists through the African bush. By now you'd think he'd know his way around. You'd be wrong. From avoiding territorial hippos and half-starved lions to dodging landmines and getting lost on the unforgiving savanna, Peter Allison has had his fair share of close calls. Yet, despite a growing suspicion that it is trying very hard to kill him, he just can't shake his love of this remarkable land, its animals and its people.That'd be right: a fairly true history of modern Australia
By William McInnes. 2008
That'd Be Right is part memoir, part personal history of Australia over the last thirty years. It's a biographical trip…
told through sport, and families and William's own experiences. Some of these events would be considered momentous, some small and personal. And all are seen through William's eyes. They range from a day at the Melbourne Cup with his mother where too many champagnes and too few winners were picked; a swimming carnival early in the morning after a gloomy and long federal election the night before; watching truly surreal Grand Final moments in a pub with a group of odd and unknown bar companions. William also writes about a night at the cricket with his son, which shows how things can change and oddly come full circle.Beaten by a blow: a shearer's story
By Dennis McIntosh. 2008
Dennis McIntosh was always determined not to get stuck in a factory like his father, but it's only once he…
takes a job as a roustabout that he discovers what he really wants to be: a shearer. Travelling from station to station, he revels in the smell and feel of the sheds, and the freedom of being answerable to no man except his mates. And it's a thrilling time to be in this legendary occupation. There's a fight on: the union is defending its workers against scab labourers' use of the wide comb. But while shearing's a fine life for a nineteen-year-old, it's a hard one for a man. As the added weight of adulthood settles on Dennis's shoulders, the sheds take their unforgiving toll. Beaten by a Blow shows us the reality behind the romance of the shearer. Most of all, it tells the story of a boy dull of hope crashing headlong into life - into work, into drink, into responsibilities he isn't ready for, which come closer to breaking his back than shearing ever did.Blood and tinsel: a memoir
By Jim Sharman. 2008
Jim Sharman takes us on an epic personal journey from his colourful childhood in his father's boxing troupe to Tokyo,…
London, Berlin and Sydney via the international successes of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. Whether recounting conversations with Lou Reed, giving us the inside story about Rocky Horror or describing a fateful meeting with Patrick White, Jim Sharman casts a brilliant story of the people and events that have shaped the times. Blood & Tinsel ranges from the rough and ready world of outback Australia in the fifties, where boxers and panto dames shared the stage, to the cultural explosions in which Sharman played a part. Blood & Tinsel is a remarkable story about Australia. It is also a moving tribute to a family legendary in the entertainment stakes.Au revoir: running away from home at fifty
By Mary Moody. 2001
Living the good life in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales with her husband, four grown-up children and four…
(and counting) grandchildren, Mary Moody's life was full. At fifty, she had built a satisfying career as a writer and television presenter which allowed her time to look after her family, house and garden. The only thing missing was time for herself, a chance to reflect on life and its meaning. Like many women of her generation, caught up with the commitments of work and family, Mary had never had a moment alone - so she decided to say au revoir. She ran away to live on her own for six glorious months in the rural paradise of southwest France.It's every monkey for themselves: a true story of sex, love and lies in the jungle
By Vanessa Woods. 2007
Aiming to put as much distance as she could between herself and a dysfunctional relationship, Vanessa Woods left Canberra and…
headed for the remote, wild and distinctly unsafe jungles of Costa Rica. She had a research job, a contract with Disney Channel and would spend the year working with a small community of dedicated like-minded scientific souls researching the behaviour of capuchin monkeys while making a documentary about Costa Rican wildlife. Or so she thought. As it turned out, Vanessa's housemates in the monkey house didn't appreciate her Australian sense of humour, she was stung so often by wasps and killer bees she developed a lethal allergy, and the monkeys were evasive, mean and aggressive - with the only difference between them and her housemates being that at least she could tell her housemates apart. Over the course of a wild, bruising and tumultuous year, Vanessa learned that not all monkeys - or people - are alike, that friendship can be more important than sex, and that sometimes it takes a brush with death and an abscess the size of a melon on your head to make you realise that being pretty isn't always enough. This is a story of love, loss, bitter rivalry and vicious battles - and that's just the monkeys...Last tango in Toulouse
By Mary Moody. 2003
The year of her fiftieth birthday, gardening writer Mary Moody ran away from home, family and work for six months…
to live in a remote French village. Yet those experiences were to mark a beginning rather than an end. They were six months that turned the rest of her life upside down, as she bought a house in the village, persuaded her husband to sell the family home of twenty-five years and take up goose farming in central NSW and abandoned her television career in favour of writing about her travelling experiences. Yet even these dramatic events were merely the outward signs of far deeper changes that challenged the stability of thirty years of monogamy and motherhood. To her surprise, Mary found herself grappling with the intense emotion of an affair, and its consequences for her marriage and family.