Summer reading hits and misses
JOHN Safran, Michael Gawenda, Bram Presser and Josh Frydenberg reveal their favourites books for summer as well as some of the “misses” of last year.
John Safran
Television personality
What are you currently reading?
The Past is Never Dead by Harry N MacLean, about the recent Mississippi trial of a Klansman for the murder of two black men in 1964.
What’s on your summer reading wish list?
My Dark Places by James Ellroy, where he investigates the murder of his mother in 1958, when he was 10.
Most underrated book of 2010:
Not sure how you qualify underrated. Maybe Pygmonia by Peter McAllister. He comes across an early 20th century photo of very short Aborigines in North Queensland, along with an anthropologist’s report at the time claiming they were pygmies.McAllister explores what defines a pygmy and whether these Aborigines were in fact that.
Most overrated book of 2010:
I don’t really know. Let’s say Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer because it got a huge bump by gushing vegans who liked it for political not creative reasons. (I hasten to add I still liked it!)
What is your all-time favourite book?
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.
Michael Gawenda
Director: University of Melbourne Centre for the Advanced Study of Journalism
What are you currently reading?
Nazi Germany and the Jews by Saul Friedlander. There are two volumes, the first is 1933-1939, the second 1939-1945. It’s magnificent.
What’s on your summer reading wish list?
Nemesis by Philip Roth, The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson, Bloodlands by Timothy Snyder.
Most underrated book of 2010:
On The Record by Laurie Oakes. Great book by Australia’s best political reporter.
Most overrated book of 2010:
The Obama Syndrome by Tariq Ali. Started to read it but couldn’t finish it. Ali is an ideologue and therefore entirely predictable.
What is your all-time favourite book?
Novel: Herzog by Saul Bellow.
Non-fiction: The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer.
These are not necessarily the best books I have read, but rather those that had a big impact on me professionally and personally.
Bram Presser
Barrister and solicitor
What are you currently reading?
Life by Keith Richards. It’s quite a departure for me; I usually steer clear of non-fiction. But it’s Keef!
What’s on your summer reading wish list?
The Brothers Ashkenazi by I J Singer (the criminally neglected, and by all reports more talented, brother of Isaac Bashevis Singer). It’s just come back into print so it will be my first read of the year. Also, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
Most underrated book of 2010:
Probably Brodeck’s Report by Philippe Claudel. One of the greatest novels about wartime guilt and complicity. Hands down, my favourite book of the year but unknown to most readers.
Most overrated book of 2010:
Room by Emma Donoghue. A passable short story laboriously stretched out over 300 pages. Suitable for the schmaltzniks only. Also, Great House by Nicole Krauss.
What is your all-time favourite book?
A three-way tie between The Trial by Franz Kafka, I Am The Cheese by Robert Cormier and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay written by Michael Chabon.
Josh Frydenberg
Federal Member for Kooyong
What’s on your summer reading wish list?
I’m going to read only one book, and that’s John Howard’s Lazarus Rising.
Most underrated book of 2010:
I can’t really say; I’d love to have more time to read but it’s just been so busy. Last summer I read a fantastic book, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team Of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, about how as a Republican president he was able to bring together his political opponents into a cabinet. It was just an incredible book that had a significant impact on me. It’s about how good leadership when the country’s future is at stake can bring together your opponents and carry your political rivals.
I also got stuck into Roland Perry’s Monash: The Outsider Who Won The War, which is a wonderful story about arguably our greatest military leader. It’s a fascinating story of how he overcame the depth of anti-German feeling at the time. He was Jewish, he had German background and he also was a reservist, and for him to rise to become Australia’s greatest military leader is a testament to his capacity and resolve.
What do you like reading?
I like PJ O’Rourke and John Grisham, and biographies.
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