Reviews

The ghostwriter's nightmare scenario

The ghostwriter's nightmare scenario

Ghostwriter characters don't make it into fiction very often, but when they do they always seem to find themselves in jeopardy. 

In the 2010 Roman Polanski film The Ghost Writer, Ewan McGregor plays a ghostwriter working for a former British prime minister. In the end he knows too much and ... it doesn't end well. 

In the Netflix series House of Cards, Paul Sparks plays ghostwriter Thomas Yates who, after struggling to extract a decent memoir out of the president, fails to keep his professional distance, you might say. It takes a while – three seasons in fact – but it doesn't end well for him either.

And now we have Australian writer Richard Flanagan's latest novel, First Person, in which the narrator is a ghostwriter hired to author the memoir of a notorious conman. The story was inspired by Flanagan's own experience, very early in his career, of ghostwriting the autobiography of fraudster John Friedrich in 1991.

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Making your ideas stick

Like many of you, I have a lot of books on the shelves of my office, not to mention beside my bed. I’m a sucker for a snappy title which, combined with the instant gratification offered by online shopping, has made building a large collection all too easy in recent years. Of course, some of those books are still in the ‘queue’ to be read. Others have been partially read but they (or I) ran out of puff before finishing them. And then there are the few – the very few – that have been read from end to end and marked throughout with comments and/or sticky labels.

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"Up in the Air" Cracks the Ice

"There's a law of diminishing returns on preaching". So said author Kate Grenville in a thought provoking lecture, 'Writers in a Time of Change', in 2009*. Yet everyday, in thousands of blog posts and columns all over the world, preaching is exactly what many very earnest writers do. I do it myself - often. There is lots that's wrong in our world and writers, particularly non-fiction writers, feel obliged to point these things out. Serious points, we believe, require serious treatment. The better writing avoids the rant.

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Inspiration from a Deaf, Nutty Genius

A deaf bloke with dubious personal hygiene. A complete nutter who died nearly 200 years ago. And a modern day inspiration for artists and business people alike. All in the same person. Who'd have thunk it? But Beethoven was, and is, all of those things. In Search of Beethoven is an engrossing new feature length documentary by Phil Grabsky. As a movie alone it is a winner. If the enthusiasm of the interviewees doesn't wash away any reticence you may have about classical music, the music itself will break the strongest emotional levee. And it is stunningly shot to boot.

Then there is the story - and the inspiration.

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Why Everyone - even Blokes - should see 'The September Issue'

To judge from the gender balance in the audience, there aren't a lot of blokes lining up to see The September Issue, the new documentary feature that gives us a peek inside the walls of Vogue magazine in New York. Which is a pity, because the film has a lot to offer anyone - male or female - with an interest in creativity or innovation. If we are to believe what we are fed by the media, all conflict and disagreement - especially between those on the 'same side' - is bad. Daily newspapers magnify any difference in opinion between two politicians of the same party. The sports pages hone in on the smallest sign of disagreement between a coach and a player. And of course the tabloid press couches every tiff between celebrity partners as a sign of impending separation.

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Our Life at Work Stripped Bare

Most of us spend a healthy slice of our lives working. We spend additional time thinking about work, but these thoughts are generally focused on the job at hand. We think through an upcoming meeting, worry about a deadline or scheme about our next job change. Much less often do we think about the wider connection of our work to our community. Rarely, if ever, do we think about the extent to which others’ work impacts on, and is essential to, our way of life. In 'The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work', Alain de Botton does this for us in a thoughtful and entertaining way.

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