The Black Dress, by Deborah Moggach
23 November 2021
In American film director David Dobkin’s 2005 movie Wedding Crashers, we see Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, known as John and Jeremy respectively, getting a kick out of showing up at strangers’ weddings. They’re both outgoing and personable, and quickly ingratiate themselves with the bridal party and their guests. Their charade is so convincing, everyone believes John and Jeremy are somehow part of the family.
It could be Prudence, the protagonist in The Black Dress (published by Hachette Australia, July 2021), the sixteenth novel of British author Deborah Moggach saw John and Jeremy in action, and decided to take a leaf out of their book. Instead of weddings though, seventy-something Pru, having purchased a black dress from a charity shop, goes to funerals. It’s not so much that she enjoys funerals, but you know, there’s bound to be a well-off widower or two in attendance.
Right about now you might be wondering what Pru is thinking. But consider: her husband recently left her, her adult children are busy with their own lives, and her friends are also otherwise occupied. What then is wrong with going to a funeral here and there? While Pru’s plan to hook-up with eligible widowers seems like a good idea, she soon discovers, to borrow the words of William Shakespeare, the course of true love never did run smooth…
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What Ann Patchett learned about writing from Snoopy
22 November 2021
I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of Snoopy – the canine comic creation of the late Charles M. Schulz – though I still read the comic strip back in the days when people used to buy the news in print. But Snoopy was no backyard pet. He led what today we’d call a rich inner life, variously imagining himself – among other things – to be a World War I fighter pilot, a member of the Foreign Legion, a Beagle Scouts leader, and a sports star.
Snoopy also saw himself as an author, at least an aspiring author, and his efforts to write and be published – along with the all too frequent rejections – were something that American author Ann Patchett, whose novels include Bel Canto and Commonwealth, took inspiration from:
Snoopy taught me that I would be hurt and I would get over it. He walked me through the publishing process: being thrilled by acceptance, ignoring reviews, and then having the dream of bestseller-dom dashed: “It’s from your publisher,” Charlie Brown tells Snoopy. “They’ve printed one copy of your novel. It says they haven’t been able to sell it. They say they’re sorry. Your book is now out of print.”
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BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival
22 November 2021
Four days of misdemeanours, transgressions and far worse no doubt, that’s the 2021 BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival, taking place from Thursday 2 December 2021, until Sunday 5 December, which is sure to be a treat for fans of crime writing, who are in and around Sydney, Australia.
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The retro themed artwork of the soundtrack cover for Licorice Pizza
20 November 2021
Retro themed artwork for the soundtrack cover for Paul Thomas Anderson’s retro themed movie Licorice Pizza. The title track is credited to Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. I couldn’t find out who the cover designer is, does anyone know? You can hear most of the soundtrack here on Spotify, sans, at the moment, Greenwood’s contribution.
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Belfast, a film by Kenneth Branagh
20 November 2021
Belfast (trailer) is a coming of age story set in Belfast, in Northern Ireland, during the 1960s, directed by British actor and filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, and is based in part on his childhood.
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Jason Mott wins fiction prize in 2021 National Book Awards
20 November 2021
North Carolina based American author Jason Mott has won the fiction prize with his novel Hell of a Book, in this year’s National Book Awards, which have recognised outstanding American writing since 1950. Prizes are also awarded in non-fiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s writing, categories.
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Don’t except to see Jane Campion directing a superhero film
19 November 2021
You won’t catch Sydney based New Zealand born film director Jane Campion helming a superhero movie. She loathes them. It’s a good thing, there’s far too many superhero movies in the world anyway.
Campion is the latest acclaimed director to criticise superhero films, following on Martin Scorsese, who compared them to “theme parks” in 2019, and Ridley Scott, who called them “fucking boring as shit” earlier this month. Both Marvel and DC have tried to bring over more auteurs, most recently Chloé Zhao, the Oscar-winning Nomadland director who made this month’s Eternals. But the film has become the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s worst reviewed offering to date.
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Goodreads Choice Awards 2021
19 November 2021
The first round of voting is open in the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards. From now until Saturday 28 November 2021, Goodreads members will be able to vote for their favourite title of twenty books, across seventeen categories, including fiction, romance, horror, science fiction, nonfiction, memoir, graphic novels, and young adult.
In the second round of voting, which will be open from 30 November to 5 December, titles will be whittled down to ten books per category, and members will be able to vote for their preferred book in each. The winners of each category will be announced on Thursday 9 December (which is less than three weeks now hereabouts).
Books published in the United States in English, including works in translation and other significant rereleases, between November 18, 2020, and November 16, 2021, are eligible for the 2021 Goodreads Choice Awards.
The Goodreads Choice Awards are said to be the only major book awards decided by readers.
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Genesis Owusu wins Triple J/RAGE music video of the year 2021
18 November 2021
Australian musician Genesis Owusu has been named winner of the J Award for both best album and music video of 2021. The Other Black Dog took out the music video award, being a track lifted from his debut long-player Smiling with No Teeth, winner of the album of the year gong. The J Award is presented by radio station Triple J, and late night weekend music TV show RAGE, every November as part of Ausmusic Month.
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One hundred years of Ginger Meggs
18 November 2021
Larrikin Australian redhead schoolboy cartoon character Ginger Meggs made his first appearance on 13 November 1921, the creation of Australian cartoonist Jimmy Bancks, who drew the strip until his death in 1952. Four authors have continued Bancks work since then, including New York based Australian cartoonist and illustrator Jason Chatfield, who draws the comic today.
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