Review
You don’t get us, we’re part of the union, says new graphic novel
Comics journalist Sam Wallman articulates the appeal of collective union action in his new graphic novel, Our Members be Unlimited.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
Latest
Reading this dazzling book is like ‘quaffing the finest champagne on earth’
Charmian Clift is the greatest essayist this country has produced, letting us discover the magic of words that tingle with feeling.
- by Peter Craven
Welcome to Australia, enemy aliens ... but you can’t fight in the war
Many so-called enemy aliens signed up to serve in the army in the war, but the Australian authorities didn’t trust them to fight.
- by Michael McGirr
Poems that make you think about today’s world and tomorrow’s bequest
Two new collections have parenting at their core, along with questions of what we leave for future generations.
- by Broede Carmody
A smart page-turner and an ABC reporter’s powerful memoir: what to read next
Louise O’Neill’s compulsively readable thriller Idol and Mawunyo Gbogbo’s Hip Hop & Hymns lead our round-up of new book reviews.
- by Steven Carroll and Cameron Woodhead
Computers never lie? Sadly, we trust too much in the magic of tech
The advance of AI needs to be handled with great care or we could face a dismal future, says guru Toby Walsh.
- by Kurt Johnson
Supernatural and bizarre: the new worlds of short stories
Two new collections of Australian stories offer plenty of rewards for readers.
- by Owen Richardson
Written by a 17-year-old, this much-hyped book fires on all cylinders
Leila Mottley’s Nightcrawling, which has a ripped-from-the-headlines premise about a young sex worker, sparked a fierce bidding war in the US.
- by Liam Pieper
The big brainwash: Hollywood has programmed our minds at the cinema
Hollywood’s Embassies unpicks the dream-factory business to reveal how studios transformed cinemas into “cultural embassies” around the world.
- by Tom Ryan
The top 10 books you should read in June
Get hooked by Adrian McKinty’s next gothic thriller, read Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s essay collection or dive into new books by Geraldine Brooks and Jhumpa Lahiri.
- by Jason Steger
Extract
Gender
‘We want to be ourselves’: Students are teaching us a gender lesson
For gender-questioning teens, it can be a complex, tortuous, lonely and liberating time: a time for parents, schools, politicians and the wider community to help, not hurt.
- by Madonna King