Night Street by  Kristel Thornell

Allen & Unwin; $23.99

This is a fictionalised account of part of the life of Clarice Majoribanks Beckett  (1887-1935), a Melbourne artist who created hundreds of evocative landscapes and seascapes.

Clarice Beckett has probably always been much underestimated, even neglected. But  go online, and you will get an idea of her stunning work which seems to be always and primarily  a meditation on the light.

Kristel Thornell brings this wonderful woman to life in Night Street which was a co-winner of 2009’s Vogel Award for young writers.  (more…)

CRAZY LIKE US: The Globalisation of the American Psyche

by Ethan Watters: Scribe, $32.99

How pervasive is the American culture?

Not only are we getting a sameness in the landscape across the world  – such as the proliferation of the golden arches of  MacDonalds in places like Tiananmen Square, or a Nike factory in Malaysia: America is now exporting its neuroses, courtesy of your ever-helpful drug companies. (more…)