Bob Ellis: In His Own Words

by Bob Ellis

Bob In His Own Words showcases the best of Ellis’s celebrated and much-loved essays, speeches, diaries and scripts, in addition to previously unpublished work, archival photos, and reflections from close friends and family. Compiled by Anne Brooksbank, this collection contains all the wit, acuity and forthrightness that we have come to expect from this inimitable wordsmith.

This book honours Ellis’s illustrious and prodigious writing it’s a keepsake for longtime Ellis fans that will also win him many new admirers.

‘The belief in a grand narrative, buttressed by the old-fashioned virtues of social democracy, clothed in a prose an angel would envy, characterised the life, art and politics of Robert James ‘Bob’ Ellis. His imprint on our film culture, theatre and in political commentary was huge and his passing has created an absence that will be hard to fill.’ —Michael Cooke

‘This is the memoir that Ellis – although neither he nor anyone else knew it – had been writing all along.’ —Erik Jensen

‘Bob Ellis is not merely the finest prose writer Australia has produced, he is probably the finest three or four of them.’ —Guy Rundle

‘The inestimable Ellis teaches us that no one should ever be ashamed of their bleeding heart.’ —Marieke Hardy

394 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 3, 2016

About the author

Robert James "Bob" Ellis (10 May 1942 – 3 April 2016[1]) was an Australian writer, journalist, filmmaker and political commentator. He was a student at the University of Sydney at the same time as other notable Australians including Clive James, Germaine Greer, Les Murray, John Bell, Ken Horler and Mungo McCallum. He lived in Sydney with the author and screenwriter Anne Brooksbank; they had three children.

Plays

The Legend of King O'Malley (1970) with Michael Boddy
Big Brother Dragon (1971) with Michael Boddy
Duke of Edinburgh Assassinated or The Vindication of Henry Parkes (1971) with Dick Hall
The Francis James Dossier (1973) – later The James Dossier (1975) – musical about Francis James
Whitlam Days (1975)
Down Under (1976) with Anne Brooksbank
A Very Good Year (1980)
Man, the musical (1990s) book and lyrics with Denny Lawrence, music by Chris Neal
A Local Man: A Play about Ben Chifley (2004) with Robin McLachlan
Shakespeare in Italy (2012) with Denny Lawrence
Intimate Strangers (unproduced) with Denny Lawrence

Screenplays

Newsfront (1978) with Anne Brooksbank
Fatty Finn (1980)
Maybe This Time (1980) with Anne Brooksbank
Goodbye Paradise (1983) with Denny Lawrence
Man of Flowers (1983) with Paul Cox
The Winds of Jarrah (1983)
My First Wife (1984) with Paul Cox
Unfinished Business (1985) – also directed
Top Kid (1985) (TV) with John Hepworth
The Paper Boy (1985) (TV) with John Hepworth
Cactus (1986) with Paul Cox
The Gilles Republic (1986) (TV)
Bullseye (1987)
Perhaps Love (1987) (TV)
True Believers (1988) (TV)
Warm Nights on a Slow Moving Train (1988) – also directed
Gilles and Company (1992) (TV)
Dreaming of Lords (1993) with Ernie Dingo – also directed
The Nostradamus Kid (1993) – also directed
Ebbtide (1994)
Wildside (1998) Episode 24
Bastards from the Bush, A Journey with Bob Ellis and Les Murray (1998) – documentary
Infamous Victory: Ben Chifley's Battle for Coal (2008) – documentary

Novels

Mad Dog Morgan (1976) – novelisation of film with Anne Brooksbank
Fatty Finn (1980) – based on his film script
Top Kid (1985) – novelisation with John Hepworth of his script
The Paper Boy (1985) -novelisation with John Hepworth of his script
The Hewson tapes : a secret history, perhaps, of our times (1993) – fictionalised diary of John Hewson
The Season (1996) – with Roy Masters

Non-fiction

The Things We Did Last Summer: An Election Journal – account of the Australian federal election, 1983
Two weeks in another country : a journal of the 1983 British election – account of the United Kingdom general election, 1983
Letters to the Future (1987) – collection of writings from 1969–87
The Inessential Ellis (1992) – collection of writings
Goodbye Jerusalem : night thoughts of a Labor outsider (1997) – writings centred on the history of the Australian Labor Party up to the Australian federal election, 1996
First abolish the customer: 202 arguments against economic rationalism (1998)
So it goes : essays, broadcasts, speeches 1987–1999 (1999)
Goodbye Babylon : further journeys in time and politics (2002)
Night thoughts in time of war (2004)
And so it went: night thoughts in a year of change (2009) – events around the Australian federal election, 2007
The capitalism delusion : how global economics wrecked everything and what to do about it (2009)
One hundred days of summer : how we got to where we are (2010)
Suddenly, last winter : an election diary (2010) – diary of the Australian federal election, 2010

Acting

I Own the Racecourse (1985) – film
The Human Behan (1995–96) – play
Waiting for Godot (2000) – play

Reviews

[Andreas Sekeris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written. Really ripped out scenes and personalities from your mind with the way he wrote. He helps you understand yourself better by writing about himself and the things he sees. Want to read more of his stuff.

[Cynthia Grove · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me this book is worth 5 stars; I loved reading it and found the writing in some early sections quite lyrical.
There are sections where Ellis' bias shows through, which is not to say he is wrong in his comments. In all, an excellent read that left me wishing Ellis hadn't died so soon. Worth reading for everyone with his inside view on so many people in the Australian political and media scene. Put together these pieces show something of the man beneath the hype.

[Heather Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written as expected from one of Australia's finest writers. A mind-opening account of what really went on in Australian politics. But also an insight into where we are heading. Read it.

[Linda Gratsounas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heart lifting, heartbreaking recap of Australian political, social and artistic life over the past 50 years, as seen through the endlessly compassionate and determinedly partisan eyes of Ellis. We have lost a master of prose, and the chapter on Maralinga made me cry, again...