Foley Books

Certain novels have that quality of sliding off the top of the head after being read. Expertly written and plotted, they have nothing more on their mind than entertaining you.

"Half the Truth" is just such a book. Chicago private detective Malachy Foley is a '90s kind of p.i.: hard-boiled but sensitive. He's got a knack for finding trouble, a desire to help and an ex-wife he would like to win back.

In this follow-up to David Walker's Edgar-nominated debut "Fixed in His Folly," Foley must find a college basketball player who went missing shortly after his roommate was drowned while apparently attempting to cross Lake Michigan in his sports car. As his search takes him from downtown Chicago to a Wisconsin military school, Foley encounters several pacifist-challenged men who have the same idea, and the case turns threatening when his client and ex-wife are kidnaped and held for ransom.

"Half the Truth" is a cat-and-mouse game with high stakes, punctuated by tense encounters that threaten to explode at any time. Sometimes, they do.

Walker's sequel was fun to read. Foley's strong desire to see justice done -- a trait common in mystery p.i.'s -- is tempered with unconventional ways of attracting attention from those who don't want to see him, whether tearing up one thug's fake parking ticket or doing exercises in a lawyer's high-toned reception room. If Bill Murray could adopt Foley's mournful demeanor, he'd fit this Second City p.i.'s M.O. to a tee.

Thus, Chapter 1 discusses the nature and dynamics of Homer's "signs" (Gk. _semata_), that is, elements within the poetry that index traditional meanings and knowledge, thereby reaching beyond their immediate or literal contexts in order to convey further implications for a tradition-aware audience. This indexing process (termed "traditional referentiality") can be found at every level of the poetry, from the smallest formula to the entire Homeric register as a whole. Chapters 2-4 provide comparative evidence for Homer via South Slavic oral poetry. After first reviewing the scholarly debates over the analogy, Chapter 2 then examines the parallel from the perspective of the singers themselves. Chapter 3 continues this examination and investigates the similarities and differences between the specialized languages of Homer and the South Slavic _guslari_. Chapter 4 then discusses the traditional referentiality of South Slavic poetry as it pertains to story-patterns, typical scenes, and formulas.

Having created a comparative framework from which to proceed, Foley uses the following sections of this book to explore the effects of oral tradition in the Homeric poems themselves. Chapter 5 focuses on the traditional story-pattern of the Return Song and its implications for Penelope's characterization and the unity of the _Odyssey_ (and the particular importance for its ending). Chapter 6 then examines the typical scenes of feast especially in the _Odyssey_) and lament (limited to the _Iliad_), while Chapter 7 details the nature of traditional referentiality in relation to Homeric phraseology. All of these observations on _Homer's Traditional Art_ then culminate in Chapter 8 in which Foley provides a close reading of an extended passage of the _Odyssey_ (from Book 23) that incorporates each of the traditional perspectives established in the preceding chapters and gives a very clear "sign" of his own, demonstrating the difference that an understanding of Homer's underlying oral tradition can make.

"The House of Packer" goes back to Jamie's great-grandfather, R C Packer, newspaper and magazine proprietor in Sydney in the inter-war years, then on to R.C.'s son (later Sir) Frank Packer who started the Australian Women's Weekly and, later, TV Channel Nine.

It is a company history rather than a group biography, so there is information on union disputes, the introduction of new technology, Federal election campaign coverage, competition with other media companies and so on.

But it is the larger than life characters, so typical of journalism in the early to mid-twentieth century and so lacking today, which give the book its human interest. Along with the bold and vigorous writing.

The book concludes with Sir Frank's death and his son Kerry (Jamie's father) taking over the reins. It is an absolute must for people interested in media studies, economic history, political intrigue or just plain power.