New Zealand Books

When researching or writing, one important step for a scholar is to write a chronology for reference, and one would have thought that this volume would be a time saver. Well, it is a chronology taken from key source material, but the question remains whether it has anything but the most common information from the standard biographies. I would imagine that the scholar who might benefit most from this title is already familiar with the biographies by Alpers, Tomalin, and recent work by Woods, Ferral, O'Sullivan, Scott, and Smith. While the information here might be accurately collected from other sources, there is the question of whether there's anything new that is really offered. Maybe the bullet point biography has its place, but for this work to be really complete, it would have been more useful to have the entries cited. It is defenseless not to have done so.

One section that also screams to be done more completely is the "Who's Who in the Mansfield Chronology," an attempt at a KM Encyclopedia. All the major players--easily found in previously published sources or online-- are listed, but the first name I went to look for, Jeanne Beauchamp (Renshaw), was not included.

This is a great concept, and one would hope that scholarly libraries will make this available for researchers. However, it may be of limited use for many of the questions that have yet to be answered about this author's work and life.

The contributors to this collection of essays about the 6 year Kennett Governmeent in the Australian State of Victoria, reveal a government hell bent on following the policies of Regan and Thatcher to their logical conclusion.

Jeff Kennett and his ministers have set a course for Victoria where no one is a person anymore but is only a client or customer. Not only has language been coopted to change public perceptions but some of the most potent examples of fascist propaganda are now commonplace in Victoria. As the economy prospers , schools ,transport, public servcies and hospitals wither and die.

The book is well written and a valuable resource for students of the cancer of economic rationalism.

This book has great photographs and lots of interesting facts about the New Zealand kiwis (flightless birds, not the fruit). Probably best for 6-9-year-olds.

This is the 8th book in the Jack Crossman series. As he enters New Zealand, it is in the middle of the Maori Wars. These are reminiscent of the war in the American West, with the Indians. Course the Maoris are a different kettle of fish than say the Apaches but both were fighting to stay in their homes, while the encrouchment of the white men decided not to allow this. You learn a bit of the Maori culture and temperament. A good yarn, with lots of excitement.

GREAT BOOK TO READ. IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE HISTORY OR THE CULTURE OF ABORIIGINAL READ THIS BOOK. YOU WILL KNOW A LOT.

This is a collection of tales and myths remembered from her childhood. The maori legends are richly told and beautifully, and sometimes frightenly, illustrated. Te Kanawa remains faithfull to the vivid storytelling ancestry she represents. Many of the heroes and villains are as real as the shadow in the night...the shadow that refuses to go away. While nominally directed at children, adults can certainly enjoy the tales while appreciating the illustrative efforts of her co-author. The marriage of story and picture have rarely been put to better use to maintain for posterity a fragile heritage.

Well, if this is what passes for postcolonial criticism "down under" then it's a good thing at least we'll always have New Zealand.

Not only does Dr Boer seem incapable of mastering even the most basic dialectic schema, but he insists upon subjecting us to his photography.

Is he even a real MarXXXist. Was he ever?

In spite of - or, perhaps, becasue of his countless scholastic slips and revisionist inklings - Roland Boer remains the only man capable of dragging biblical studies out of the 19th century and into the retro-futuristic age of joyless humanism we all thought died with Della Volpe. More please!

This book is based on the book "One Good Run." It is about Burt Munro's life and his love of motorcycles, especially Munro's love of speed. The book is written for a younger audience but I still enjoyed it as an adult.

This anthology covers lesbians and lesbian issues in New Zealand. The chapters are precise, well-written, and wel-edited.

This book reminds me of Trevisan's "Perverts in Paradise" (Brazil) and Gevisser's "Defiant Desire" (South Africa). Like many books that try to define sexual orientation issues for a country, it brings up deceased gay writers, living gay writers, current gay rights battles, and essays from current gay community activists.

Unlike its American couterparts, this book says little about straight female homophobia or gay male sexism. In fact, gay men are rarely mentioned at all, neither as allies nor oppressors. I think this may be an attempt to focus on lesbians and not take any swipes at any other groups. Then too, this book mentions very little actual lesbophobia. Never is it mentioned that New Zealand has a "Bowers v. Hardwick" like the United States or a Clause 28 like Great Britain. Many of the studies analyzed seemed like they were conducted using government funds. This book makes lesbian life in New Zealand look nice, though the contributors never clearly state this.

Because New Zealand is a multicultural society, I was concerned whether this book would reflect that diversity. Though the only explicit Maori chapter was fluff, other contributors make sure not to portray lesbianism as only white. The editor comes out as biracial. One contributor analyzes the work of an Indo-European, lesbian author. Others bring up Maori matters often. I am impressed by this effort.

This book does do a lot of gleaning. American lesbian academics like Robson, Faderman, and Lorde are quoted often. I think they'd be proud to discover that their writings have an international audience. Still, in this book, New Zealand lesbians have to appropriate much from straight women's studies and American and British lesbians' texts in order to define themselves. This fleshing out illustrates that New Zealand lesbians must see themselves as having a lot in common with all women in their nation and with English-speaking lesbians around the globe.

I am planning a trip to New Zealand and have been absorbing as much information as possible before I go. I have seen several guide books and this is the first and only one I have seen that is set up for a budget traveler. Most of the guides list their $ (supposedly budget) meals at less than $30, this book has it's cheapest listed as under $7 and the expensive stuff listed over $25. Not everyone who travels makes $100,000+ a year :)
It also has heaps of extra information about traveling to NZ and travel in general. Information on passports, visas, safety, health, history, etc. All of the authors are people who have traveled to New Zealand, rather than living there, so you get an angle from the traveler's perspective more than from the usual travel writer's perspective.
It has the same kind of break down that most books have by city, attractions, restaurants and housing. It also has suggestions on other ways to experience the country such as farmstays, volunteer work,
education, and different travel styles.
A very good travel book, and easy to read rather than tedious. I don't feel like I am being sold anything while reading, it's more like having a friend tell me about their experiences and giving me travel advice, which is just what I need!