Category Archives: Books

2021 in lists: concerts & shows, theatre, books, movies, TV

Posted on 3 January 2021 by andyq

(A work in progress…) Movies (seen in the cinema) Bonjour Tristesse. La Dolce Vita. Movies (seen on TV, like on Netflix) Pride. How I loved this charming English movie about a group of ragtag gay and lesbian activists who supported … Continue reading →

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2020 in lists: concerts & shows, theatre, books, movies, TV

Posted on 31 December 2020 by andyq

Movies (seen in the cinema) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Enjoyable enough and hit the mark, I thought. I would have liked to see Rose get more screentime. I enjoyed seeing Carrie Fisher. I got mixed up and expected … Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Book, Books, Concert, Exhibition, Film, Music, Review, Sydney, Theatre/Concert Review, Theatre/Show | Leave a comment

Book Review: George Ilsley’s The Home Stretch: A Father, A Son, and All the Things They Never Talk About

Posted on 5 November 2020 by andyq

The Home Stretch: A Father, a Son, and All the Things They Never Talk About by George K. Ilsley My rating: 5 of 5 stars You wouldn’t think, necessarily, that a book about a son, visiting his father in his … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Milan Kundera’s The Festival of Insignificance

Posted on 5 October 2020 by andyq

The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera My rating: 2 of 5 stars As a young man, I discovered Kundera’s novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, and since, have read a number of his books. At the time, his writing … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Ian Young’s London Skin and Bones: The Finsbury Park Stories

Posted on 14 September 2020 by andyq

London Skin & Bones: The Finsbury Park Stories by Ian Young My rating: 5 of 5 stars I met Ian decades ago when I was at university, but I never knew the stories of his years in London, living in … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Creative Non-Fiction, Gay Life | 2 Comments

Why we like the writers we do … or not

Posted on 12 May 2020 by andyq

The pages of the print-out are dated 13 January 2009, in fact, more precisely than that: 12:01pm. It’s an article that I liked in Salon.com from 2002. I suspect that years after I first read it (I was reading a … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Lydia Davis’s The End of the Story

Posted on 11 May 2020 by andyq

The End of the Story by Lydia Davis My rating: 2 of 5 stars I found The End of the Story a confusing book, and yet, it felt like it was purposely so. The narrative and descriptions could be emotionally … Continue reading →

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Book Review: David Sedaris’s When You are Engulfed in Flames

Posted on 28 March 2020 by andyq

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris My rating: 3 of 5 stars I’ve enjoyed Sedaris’s writing in the past, and possibly even more so, hearing him speak at a writer’s festival. He’s funny. Occasionally, he produces a … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Fleishman Is in Trouble

Posted on 27 October 2019 by andyq

Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner My rating: 5 of 5 stars Aware that Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s interviews with the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Jonathan Franzen are so incisive, well-written and engaging that they’ve become famous in themselves, and … Continue reading →

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Book review: David Foenkinos’s Delicacy

Posted on 11 October 2019 by andyq

Delicacy by David Foenkinos My rating: 1 of 5 stars I should have guessed from the cover. ‘Like an Amélie for grown-ups’, said the blurb. But I thought that Amélie was for grown-ups. So, I could gather from the back … Continue reading →

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