A (mostly silly) Literary Digression.

I will start.

I often look at best-seller lists for the portal - and also at the NYT notable book lists and such.

I cam across this fairly quality Australian book selling site - which had a best-seller list.

I thought it might to be fun for the Americans here to see an Ozzian best-seller list:



Best Seller List
1. Briefest English Grammar Ever Produced: For English Speakers Who Didnt Learn Grammar at School
by RUTH COLMAN
2. Not Happy John
by MARGO KINGSTON
3. Mission Impossible: The Sheiks the US and the Future of Iraq (QEssay #14)
by QUARTERLY ESSAY (PAUL MCGEOUGH)
4. Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
5. Short History of Nearly Everything
by BILL BRYSON
6. Scandal Takes a Holiday
by Lindsey Davis
7. Axis of Deceit
by ANDREW WILKIE
8. Wreck of Western Culture
by JOHN CARROLL
9. Spartans: An Epic History
by Paul Cartledge
10. Ten Big Ones
by Janet Evanovich




Specials List
Food of Italy
by Claudia Roden
AUD$50.00

International Business Risk: A Handbook for the Asia Pacific Region
by Darryl S L Jarvis
AUD$99.00

Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination
by Helen Fielding
AUD$15.00

Oxford English Dictionary (20 Vol CD-ROM Version 3.0)
AUD$395.00

(Oh - here is the shop link, for anyone who wishes to browse - http://www.abbeys.com.au/ )

Here are accounts of some of the best-sellers:

Briefest English Grammar Ever Produced: For English Speakers Who Didnt Learn Grammar at School

Author : RUTH COLMAN
Format : Spiral Bound

Staff Review

This curious volume had been handwritten in three colours with calligraphic pens and then, I presume, scanned for printing. It is the most concise, clearly presented and straightforward grammar guide I have ever seen. The author claims it was designed for English speakers who didn't learn grammar at school (or maybe people like me who did, but can't remember the tricky bits). Her definitions really make sense, such as: ?Pronouns?These are the words we use when we want to refer to people or things without continually repeating their names.? Selling like hotcakes, this is the book you need handy when reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Ann



Mission Impossible: The Sheiks the US and the Future of Iraq (QEssay #14)

Author : QUARTERLY ESSAY (PAUL MCGEOUGH)

Description

Can Iraq be democratised? After spending months in Iraq, Australian foreign correspondent Paul McGeough is not sure. In June this year, the Bush administration wants, or at least wants to appear, to hand back control of the country to the Iraqis. Despite continued uncertainty and conflict, the White House maintains its public optimism about the future of the country, its invasion of which was based on lies. What is the basis for this optimism? Iraq's anti-democratic tradition and history provides a major hurdle; so does the power struggle among Bush's hand-picked team of exiles flown in after the war; and, perhaps most of all, so does the uncertain outcome of the push for power by the country's majority Shiite population. McGeough examines what sort of country Shiite-controlled Iraq might be and contrasts this vision with that of the US.




Staff Review

This curious volume had been handwritten in three

Axis of Deceit

Author : ANDREW WILKIE

Description

In March 2003, Andrew Wilkie resigned from Australia's senior intelligence agency, ONA, in protest over the looming Iraq war. He was the only serving Intelligence Officer from the Coalition of the Willing - the US, UK and Australia - to do so. The dramatic move was reported throughout the world.

From his public stand against Australia's involvement in the war in Iraq, to contesting John Howard's own seat in the 2004 federal election, Andrew Wilkie has quickly become a household name. But who is Andrew Wilkie, and why is he willing to risk his career, his reputation and his own personal safety to tell Australia the truth?

In Axis of Deceit, Wilkie looks at how the case for war was made in Washington, London and Canberra. With unique insight, he explains how the three governments routinely skewed, spun and fabricated the relevant intelligence.

Axis of Deceit is also the story of a whistleblower: how an act of conscience put an intelligence officer on a collision course with his country's government. Wilkie also offers some of the most up-to-date insights available into the world of international intelligence and life as a spook.

Author information:
Andrew Wilkie served in the Australian Defence Force from 1980 until 2000, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During 1999? he was seconded from the ADF to Australia's senior intelligence agency, the Office of National Assessments, as a Senior Strategic Analyst. Wilkie worked on a range of issues including Kosovo, terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction and border protection. He returned to ONA shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks as the Senior Trans-National Issues Analyst.

In recent months, Wilkie has undertaken countless speaking engagements in the US, UK and Australia. He was also called upon to give evidence at the official UK and Australian inquiries into the case for war. Wilkie has recently been announced as the Greens' candidate in the upcoming federal election for Prime Minister John Howard's seat of Bennelong.

Not Happy John

Author : MARGO KINGSTON

Description

Not happy, John, with the way:
you snuck us into the Iraq war without ever really telling us why
you trample on our democratic right to know
you'd like to give the Media Moguls control of ALL our news
a Big Donation lets Big Business share a barbecue with you and George W.
you let President Bush ambush OUR Parliament - and then let President Hu roll us all over again, the next day
you use 'glo balisation' to avoid accountability
you treat us as passive consumers - not as CITIZENS and people of goodwill.
Margo Kingston, one of Australia's most fearless political journalists, thinks it's crunch time for Australia. Not Happy, John! is a gutsy, anecdotal book with a deadly serious purpose: to lay bare the insidious ways in which John Howard's government has profoundly undermined our freedoms and our rights.




The Spartans: An Epic History

Author : PAUL CARTLEDGE

Description

Paul Cartledge argues that the Spartans are our ancestors, every bit as much as the Athenians. But while Athens promoted democracy, individualism, culture and society, their great rivals Sparta embodied militarism, totalitarianism, segregation and brutal repression. As ruthless as they were self-sacrificing, their sucessful war rituals made the Spartans the ultimate fighting force. The battle of Thermopylae epitomises all that is Sparta. While slave masters to the Helots for over three centuries, Spartan women enjoyed an unparalleled freedom indulging in education, dance and sport. From this environment was born Helen of Troy.Interspersed with the personal biographies of leading figures, "The Spartans" tracks the people from 480 to 360BC charting Sparta's progression from the great power of the Aegean Greek world to its ultimate demise.

Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire

Author : NIALL FERGUSON

(This seems to be a new edition of Colossus: The Price of the American Empire, as sold in the US)


Description

Is America the new world Empire? The US government emphatically denies it. Despite the conquest of two sovereign states in as many years, despite the presence of more than 750 military installations across two-thirds of the globe and despite his stated intention 'to extend the benefits of freedom . . . To every corner of the world', George W. Bush maintains that 'America has never been an empire'. 'We don't seek empires,' insists Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. 'We're not imperialistic.'
In Colossus Niall Ferguson reveals the truth, arguing that in both military and economic terms America is nothing less than the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. Just like the British Empire a century ago, the United States aspires to globalize free markets, the rule of law and representative government.

Wreck of Western Culture

JOHN CARROLL

Description

Humanism built Western Civilisation as we know it today. Its achievements include the liberation of the individual, democracy, universal rights & widespread prosperity and comfort. Its ambassadors are the heroes of modern culture: Erasmus, Holbein, Kant, Shakespeare, VeláZquez, Descartes and Freud. Those who sought to contain humanism's pride within a frame of higher truth - Luther, Calvin, Poussin, Kierkegaard could barely interrupt its torrential progress. Those who sought to reform humanism's tenets - Marx, Darwin, and Nietzsche were tested by the success of their own prophecies. So runs the approved view; it is not shared by John Carroll. Here, John Carroll significantly reworks his thesis on the failure of the West's 500 year experiment with humanism and its dire cultural consequences. Originally published in 1993, this edition is rewritten, expanded and updated in light of recent events and closes with September 11, 2001.

?This book is provocative, brilliant, exasperating.' - THE AGE

?John Carroll has earned a place entirely of his own, a place which but few others dare, or have the stamina to visit ? Some readers will find Carroll's book eye-opening; some will find it infuriating; all will find it unputdownable.' - ZYGMUNT BAUMAN

And - one of the books mentioned in a description:

Eats Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

Author : LYNNE TRUSS


Description

A witty, entertaining, impassioned guide to perfect punctuation, for everyone who cares about precise writing. Not a primer but a 'zero tolerance' manual for direct action.
A panda walked into a cafe. He ordered a sandwich, ate it, then pulled out a gun and shot the waiter. 'Why?' groaned the injured man. The panda shrugged, tossed him a badly punctuated wildlife manual and walked out. And sure enough, when the waiter consulted the book, he found an explanation. 'Panda,' ran the entry for his assailant. 'Large black and white mammal native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'

We see signs in shops every day for "Banana's" and even "Gateaux's". Competition rules remind us: "The judges decision is final." Now, many punctuation guides already exist explaining the principles of the apostrophe; the comma; the semi-colon. These books do their job but somehow punctuation abuse does not diminish. Why? Because people who can't punctuate don't read those books! Of course they don't! They laugh at books like those!

Eats, Shoots and Leaves adopts a more militant approach and attempts to recruit an army of punctuation vigilantes: send letters back with the punctuation corrected. Do not accept sloppy emails. Climb ladders at dead of night with a pot of paint to remove the redundant apostrophe in "Video's sold here".


That is a VERY funny title in Oz, because the joke description of the Australian male is that he is like a wombat when it comes to matters sexual:

Eats, roots, shoots and leaves.

As you can see, we appear to be interested in grammar, Iraq, the US, and Spartans. Odd.....

Hmmm - here is a less rarefied Oz bookseller's Best Seller list:

1. The DA Vinci Code - Brown, Dan

2. My Life - Clinton, Bill

3. Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix - J K Rowling

4. Girl in Times Square - Simons, Paullina

5. The Ultimate Weight Solution - McGraw, Phillip C.

6. Ten Big Ones - Evanovich, Janet

7. Not Happy, John - Kingston, Margo

8. Cracking The Da Vinci Code : The Facts Behind The Fiction - Cox, Simon

9. A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bryson, Bill

10. The Ultimate Weight Solution Cookbook


Hmmm - Labyrinthine fiction, America again, Australian politics, magic and magic....

Them Yanks gets more attention than they deserves, oftentimes.

I'm still on the first list. First of all is John Carroll John Carroll or Jon Carroll? Second of all, Janet Evanovich? Sheesh, I have been avoiding those, all those garish covers.

You'll tell me, Deb, won't you, if I need to read one?

Bryson, I am personally over.

Harry Potter... well, skip a space.

Now then, tell me what is good in australian writing, I know there is good writing, and I'd like to read it.

j/o

Ha - garish covers. That is interesting. We often have different editions from your US ones - and the US covers, in general, look horribly garish to Australian eyes!

Many of your paper backs, which are of quality works, look like the worst of cheap thrillers or romance novels, to me, because of the covers!

'Tis amazing.

John Carroll, I believe.

Hmmm - dead digression thread - such is life....

I got a couple of book tokens on Saturday - so went adventuring today in bookland.

I bought a Bill Bryson!

I have never supped on a Bryson - although I have meant to.....this one is a Short History of Everything.

So - what else did I get?

Well, Russia seems to be the theme - The Court of the Red Tsar is proving a gloriously (if horribly) wonderful read.....so far I am getting a fascinating glimpse of the Russian leadership - nose hairs, sex lives, group culture and all. It is still before the internal group horror breaks out - though millions of peasants are being starved in some sort of grain thing.

And - Taubman's biography of Kruschev - not dipped into yet.

Is anyone else fascinated with good biographies?

I find them a wonderfully easy way to accesss history and culture of other times and places...

I dipped into - and half-read - a wonderful little book, translated from the French - debunking much of the "science" woollily used by the post-modernists - but did not purchase.

I also bought a book by the Australian ethicist, Peter Singer, on Bush's ethics....this also looks fascinating....quite a grab bag!!!!

Does anyone else - when purchasing weighty tomes related to one's field - (as I have been buying lots of stuff on attachment and trauma - and therapy therefore - all wonderfully and fascinatingly researched) - feel, as soon as the darlings are home, and lovingly placed on one's special work-related pile, that one actually HAS the knowledge contained therein? WITHOUT reading the things?

I do - it is ridiculous. There they sit, usually being avidly borrowed and read by colleagues, while I beam at them lovingly - like the little darlings of rich people in days of yore, brought down from the nursery by nannies, to be chucked under the chin, admired, and sent back at the first sign of demanding behaviour, while one continues with one's lovely dinner party.

Odd....

I finished reading the Da Vinci Code sometime ago, and enjoyed the fast racy plot. So when I was grocery shopping yesterday, I saw the other two novels on sale by the same author, so I picked them up (as a banker, I very rarely say no to a bargain)

Also, on the bedisde table is the latest by Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake)

Oh "A Brief History of nearly everything" is good, but not classic Bryson - he throws in so many names that it gets a tad confusing (and boring) after a while

Arrrghhhhh - I tired of the Code almost as soon as I picked it up!

I am code-avoidant.

The code is a good book to take yr mind off from the daily drudgeries of life !

G - you have a "bedisde table"?

Is that an Indian thing?

or a gay one?

It sounds a little risque......

You don't have a "bedside table"?

I want that book!! (The Namesake.) Was excerpted in the New Yorker, looked fantastic. "The Interpreter of Maladies" is one of my all-time faves.

Gautam -- random observation, tell me what you think. I started getting seriously into modern Indian fiction about 15 years ago. Then, it seemed like if there was a novel by an Indian author published here, it was good, period. (I could come up with titles but my brain is mushy yet. Rushdie, obviusly. Seth. Some Mistry I think.)

Then about -- what -- 8 years ago? it became a thing. Oooh, Modern Indian Fiction! "The God of Small Things", Rushdie again, other stuff. It became a publishing phenomenon.

So where I was used to picking up a book with an Indian name and an "exotic" looking cover -- red and gold predominated -- and being assured it was good, a lot of the more recent ones seem eh.

Or is that me getting more jaded?

I have a bedside table which is probably about to become much bigger - as it is groaning under the weight of books and such.

Luckily, I am doing a big re-organise and tidy - so a bigger table has become available through the movement of other objects - it was my TV and video table. It is metal - on nice castors.

I also moved bookcases into the passage - and I am culling the books AGAIN.

Do you think it is time to surrender all my plays (except Shakespeare and Marlowe and such) and other non-read books from my English degree????

They sometimes come in handy for reference.

I think it IS time to cull them.

One always needs the one one just disposed of, though, does one not?

I had no idea that Lord Bryson was from Oz. I thought he was British, and friends with Shelly Fabares.

I though Lord Byron died in Greece, and was the illegitimate father of Sally Fields.

Oh no not a culling. I hate those.

We have the same number of books and same number of bookcases pre- and post- move, but we're using them differently, and there is less book space. Plus I had a huge tottering stack on top of the top shelf of a bookcase -- like, stacked horizontally -- that I don't want to replicate. So books are stacked on the floor. Leave? New bookcase? Cull?

I started thinking of things to cull, too sad. They've already been through several waves of culling, nothing obvious left. (I considered the paperback Shakespeares and such too -- as BOOKS they're not much, and I could probably find quotes online -- but I don't wanna.)