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True Stories: The Collected Short Non-Fiction
Helen Garner visits the morgue, and goes cruising on a Russian ship. She sees women giving birth, and gets the sack for teaching her students about sex. She attends a school dance and a gun show. She writes about dreaming, about turning fifty, and the storm caused by The First Stone. Her story on the murder of the two-year-old Daniel Valerio wins her a Walkley Award.
Garner looks at the world with a shrewd and sympathetic eye. Her non-fiction is always passionate and compelling. True Stories is an extraordinary book, spanning fifty years of work, by one of Australia’s great writers.
Garner looks at the world with a shrewd and sympathetic eye. Her non-fiction is always passionate and compelling. True Stories is an extraordinary book, spanning fifty years of work, by one of Australia’s great writers.
636 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
261 people are currently reading
1957 people want to read
About the author
Helen Garner
52 books1,410 followersHelen Garner was born in Geelong in 1942. She has published many works of fiction including Monkey Grip, Cosmo Cosmolino and The Children's Bach. Her fiction has won numerous awards. She is also one of Australia's most respected non-fiction writers, and received a Walkley Award for journalism in 1993.
Her most recent books are The First Stone, True Stories, My Hard Heart, The Feel of Stone and Joe Cinque's Consolation. In 2006 she won the Melbourne Prize for Literature. She lives in Melbourne.
Praise for Helen Garner's work
'Helen Garner is an extraordinarily good writer. There is not a paragraph, let alone a page, where she does not compel your attention.'
Bulletin
'She is outstanding in the accuracy of her observations, the intensity of passion...her radar-sure humour.'
Washington Post
'Garner has always had a mimic's ear for dialogue and an eye for unconscious symbolism, the clothes and gestures with which we give ourselves away.'
Peter Craven, Australian
'Helen Garner writes the best sentences in Australia.'
Ed Campion, Bulletin
Her most recent books are The First Stone, True Stories, My Hard Heart, The Feel of Stone and Joe Cinque's Consolation. In 2006 she won the Melbourne Prize for Literature. She lives in Melbourne.
Praise for Helen Garner's work
'Helen Garner is an extraordinarily good writer. There is not a paragraph, let alone a page, where she does not compel your attention.'
Bulletin
'She is outstanding in the accuracy of her observations, the intensity of passion...her radar-sure humour.'
Washington Post
'Garner has always had a mimic's ear for dialogue and an eye for unconscious symbolism, the clothes and gestures with which we give ourselves away.'
Peter Craven, Australian
'Helen Garner writes the best sentences in Australia.'
Ed Campion, Bulletin
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
July 4, 2018
Update: The Monthly has a cover story on her. Hotel Golf (H.G., get it?) https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2...
5★
“ One friend of mine, a keen and discriminating reader of fiction, confessed to me, ‘I even forget the books I’ve loved the most. And it’s not through lack of concentration: I’m completely absorbed by the book as I read it—but afterwards it’s like another world that I lived in for a while, and now I’ve left it behind. I remember how I felt, but not the book itself.’”
You too? That’s certainly true of me and my memory, although there will always be characters and scenes and plot twists that stick. I remember so many little scenes from Garner's work.
This is an impossible book to review, other than to say it’s a wonderful collection of short works by one of my favourite authors. It was compiled in honour of her 75th birthday (2017) and includes three of her previously published books plus the long essay “Why She Broke”, which was published in The Monthly magazine. It’s about a migrant mother who drove her children into a lake where some drowned.
I had previously read the essay and her original story collection, also called True Stories: Selected Non Fiction, some time ago. More recently I read and reviewed Everywhere I Look (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)
In The Feel Of Steel, the "steel" refers to when she took up fencing. She has done a lot of unusual things. These are all made up of short non-fiction pieces, about everything from crime to babies to drugs to being sacked as a teacher for teaching sex in her class to kids who needed to know about it.
She goes nowhere without her notebook, and she stops in the middle of whatever she's doing to write things down. She began being interested in what is now called the True Crime genre, but for her it was sparked by following a controversial court case and writing a book This House of Grief (about a father who drove his children into a dam where they drowned). She sits in court day after day, studying all the players and getting a better insight into the story than any juror could possibly have.
She is an interesting mix of private and persistent. She’s a skilled interviewer. but she had to learn.
“As an interviewer you have to discipline your narcissism. You have to train yourself to shut up about what you did and saw and felt. You learn by practice to listen properly and genuinely, to follow with respect the wandering path of the other’s thoughts. After a while this stops being an effort. You notice that your concentration span is getting longer—longer than you ever thought it could become. Fewer and fewer things bore you. Curiosity is a muscle. Patience is a muscle. What begins as a necessary exercise gradually becomes natural.”
I like that. We do talk about exercising patience, don’t we? I never considered doing the same for curiosity, although being naturally curious, I’m interested in most people.
I read once where a man told his son to listen to everyone, because truly boring people are one in a million, and the fact they are one in a million is a reason to make them interesting. I’m not sure if Garner has ever though that, but she does seem to strike up conversations easily with anyone.
She’s an outsider who writes from the inside. In some stories about her growing up, (she was the eldest of 6), she is sometimes the ringleader around whom the action revolves and yet often felt like the odd one out, the one who didn’t fit.
You too?
And the same at university and in share houses with other (mostly) young people. Many were doing drugs (some soft, some hard), and trying to manage a household with rosters and rules. Again, she sometimes felt like the one who didn’t fit, but she writes from the heart of the inner circle and doesn’t miss a trick.
She is opinionated (and why not), and critical of poor punctuation, among other things. Just one of her pet peeves. But she is just as hard on herself, often telling anecdotes where she comes off second best.
“. . . I was reminded that I ought to keep a lid on my passion for punctuation when I bragged to my friend Tim Winton that I had just written ‘a two-hundred-word paragraph consisting of a single syntactically perfect sentence’. He scorched me with a surfer’s stare and said, ‘I couldn’t care less about that sort of s**t.’”
She has chronicled so much of life in Australia for the last 50 years, that when I read her stories and essays, I feel as if I’m reading my own history. Not that I spent time following cases in a maternity ward or learning the ins and outs of the morgue. No. But the families she meets could be people I knew. Their circumstances are recognisable, so I know when she’s writing about something completely outside my ken, I can trust her.
This was a particularly touching excerpt from an interview during her time in the morgue.
“‘With the SIDS babies we take extra time. We wash and powder them. And during post-mortems we’re really careful not to damage them. You feel they’ve been through enough. We rebuild and reconstruct them really carefully. Funny—when you’re holding a dead baby in your arms, you know it’s dead, but you still have the instinct to support the head, and not to let it drop back.’
. . .
‘You have to realise,’ says Jodie, ‘that what we deal with here isn’t really death. We see what’s left behind after death has happened—after death has been and gone.’”
See what I mean? She’s very much the stranger, the outsider, but people let her completely into their confidence.
“People will always tell you more than you need to know—and more than they want you to know.”
She describes an episode in the maternity ward (where she watches labour and births!):
“A beeper goes off. Five doctors dive for their belts, in curved, two-handed plunging gestures, as graceful as if they were dancing. Midwives are the sort of people you’d be glad to see come striding through the door in an emergency. Doctors too, of course—but while doctors can seem driven and head-tripping, midwives have the relaxed physical confidence of sportswomen. With their slow, wide-swinging gait, they radiate capable calm. Their professional mode is unflappability.”
After a long labour, dainty dark Mala from Madras finally has her baby. Her husband has been tender and solicitous, but once the baby is born, he begins to behave a little oddly. He tries to indicate something to the doctor, not really knowing what to say.
“He urges her to note that the baby’s skin is much lighter in colour than his or Mala’s. Nik [the registrar] stands stock still at the foot of the bed. Linda [the doctor] steps forward to the cot and leans over it. A beat. ‘His skin,’ she says clearly and carefully, ‘will darken in four to six months. As soon as the sun hits him—boom. All babies are born with light skin.’ She hovers over the baby. She looks up at Mala’s husband. Something more needs to be said. Linda swallows and takes the plunge. ‘He bears a very strong resemblance to you,’ she says. ‘Oh, very strong. Doesn’t he. Yes—the father’s the winner, with this one.’”
And you’ll be the winner if you enjoy good writing about life in general, life in particular, and the thoughts and musings of a wonderful, witty, warm, sarcastic, opinionated, fun-loving writer.
About a time she and a friend were walking along, laughing almost hysterically at a number of things, Helen writes:
“As we lurch along, sobbing with laughter, holding each other up, she gasps, ‘This reminds me of something Bill Garner said to me about you, right after you split up. He said, “If all there was to life was walking along the street, Helen’s the person I’d like to do it with.””
Same here. And I'd like her to bring her notebook.
I’m such a fan. Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted. And thanks to Helen Garner for making such good use of her diaries and notes.
5★
“ One friend of mine, a keen and discriminating reader of fiction, confessed to me, ‘I even forget the books I’ve loved the most. And it’s not through lack of concentration: I’m completely absorbed by the book as I read it—but afterwards it’s like another world that I lived in for a while, and now I’ve left it behind. I remember how I felt, but not the book itself.’”
You too? That’s certainly true of me and my memory, although there will always be characters and scenes and plot twists that stick. I remember so many little scenes from Garner's work.
This is an impossible book to review, other than to say it’s a wonderful collection of short works by one of my favourite authors. It was compiled in honour of her 75th birthday (2017) and includes three of her previously published books plus the long essay “Why She Broke”, which was published in The Monthly magazine. It’s about a migrant mother who drove her children into a lake where some drowned.
I had previously read the essay and her original story collection, also called True Stories: Selected Non Fiction, some time ago. More recently I read and reviewed Everywhere I Look (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)
In The Feel Of Steel, the "steel" refers to when she took up fencing. She has done a lot of unusual things. These are all made up of short non-fiction pieces, about everything from crime to babies to drugs to being sacked as a teacher for teaching sex in her class to kids who needed to know about it.
She goes nowhere without her notebook, and she stops in the middle of whatever she's doing to write things down. She began being interested in what is now called the True Crime genre, but for her it was sparked by following a controversial court case and writing a book This House of Grief (about a father who drove his children into a dam where they drowned). She sits in court day after day, studying all the players and getting a better insight into the story than any juror could possibly have.
She is an interesting mix of private and persistent. She’s a skilled interviewer. but she had to learn.
“As an interviewer you have to discipline your narcissism. You have to train yourself to shut up about what you did and saw and felt. You learn by practice to listen properly and genuinely, to follow with respect the wandering path of the other’s thoughts. After a while this stops being an effort. You notice that your concentration span is getting longer—longer than you ever thought it could become. Fewer and fewer things bore you. Curiosity is a muscle. Patience is a muscle. What begins as a necessary exercise gradually becomes natural.”
I like that. We do talk about exercising patience, don’t we? I never considered doing the same for curiosity, although being naturally curious, I’m interested in most people.
I read once where a man told his son to listen to everyone, because truly boring people are one in a million, and the fact they are one in a million is a reason to make them interesting. I’m not sure if Garner has ever though that, but she does seem to strike up conversations easily with anyone.
She’s an outsider who writes from the inside. In some stories about her growing up, (she was the eldest of 6), she is sometimes the ringleader around whom the action revolves and yet often felt like the odd one out, the one who didn’t fit.
You too?
And the same at university and in share houses with other (mostly) young people. Many were doing drugs (some soft, some hard), and trying to manage a household with rosters and rules. Again, she sometimes felt like the one who didn’t fit, but she writes from the heart of the inner circle and doesn’t miss a trick.
She is opinionated (and why not), and critical of poor punctuation, among other things. Just one of her pet peeves. But she is just as hard on herself, often telling anecdotes where she comes off second best.
“. . . I was reminded that I ought to keep a lid on my passion for punctuation when I bragged to my friend Tim Winton that I had just written ‘a two-hundred-word paragraph consisting of a single syntactically perfect sentence’. He scorched me with a surfer’s stare and said, ‘I couldn’t care less about that sort of s**t.’”
She has chronicled so much of life in Australia for the last 50 years, that when I read her stories and essays, I feel as if I’m reading my own history. Not that I spent time following cases in a maternity ward or learning the ins and outs of the morgue. No. But the families she meets could be people I knew. Their circumstances are recognisable, so I know when she’s writing about something completely outside my ken, I can trust her.
This was a particularly touching excerpt from an interview during her time in the morgue.
“‘With the SIDS babies we take extra time. We wash and powder them. And during post-mortems we’re really careful not to damage them. You feel they’ve been through enough. We rebuild and reconstruct them really carefully. Funny—when you’re holding a dead baby in your arms, you know it’s dead, but you still have the instinct to support the head, and not to let it drop back.’
. . .
‘You have to realise,’ says Jodie, ‘that what we deal with here isn’t really death. We see what’s left behind after death has happened—after death has been and gone.’”
See what I mean? She’s very much the stranger, the outsider, but people let her completely into their confidence.
“People will always tell you more than you need to know—and more than they want you to know.”
She describes an episode in the maternity ward (where she watches labour and births!):
“A beeper goes off. Five doctors dive for their belts, in curved, two-handed plunging gestures, as graceful as if they were dancing. Midwives are the sort of people you’d be glad to see come striding through the door in an emergency. Doctors too, of course—but while doctors can seem driven and head-tripping, midwives have the relaxed physical confidence of sportswomen. With their slow, wide-swinging gait, they radiate capable calm. Their professional mode is unflappability.”
After a long labour, dainty dark Mala from Madras finally has her baby. Her husband has been tender and solicitous, but once the baby is born, he begins to behave a little oddly. He tries to indicate something to the doctor, not really knowing what to say.
“He urges her to note that the baby’s skin is much lighter in colour than his or Mala’s. Nik [the registrar] stands stock still at the foot of the bed. Linda [the doctor] steps forward to the cot and leans over it. A beat. ‘His skin,’ she says clearly and carefully, ‘will darken in four to six months. As soon as the sun hits him—boom. All babies are born with light skin.’ She hovers over the baby. She looks up at Mala’s husband. Something more needs to be said. Linda swallows and takes the plunge. ‘He bears a very strong resemblance to you,’ she says. ‘Oh, very strong. Doesn’t he. Yes—the father’s the winner, with this one.’”
And you’ll be the winner if you enjoy good writing about life in general, life in particular, and the thoughts and musings of a wonderful, witty, warm, sarcastic, opinionated, fun-loving writer.
About a time she and a friend were walking along, laughing almost hysterically at a number of things, Helen writes:
“As we lurch along, sobbing with laughter, holding each other up, she gasps, ‘This reminds me of something Bill Garner said to me about you, right after you split up. He said, “If all there was to life was walking along the street, Helen’s the person I’d like to do it with.””
Same here. And I'd like her to bring her notebook.
I’m such a fan. Thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted. And thanks to Helen Garner for making such good use of her diaries and notes.
March 8, 2019
‘Those who consider Helen Garner the Australian Joan Didion want to compliment Garner, but maybe they are truly complimenting Didion.’
El Cultural, Spain
‘The chameleon-like non-fiction of the Australian Helen Garner, queen of the effervescent true crime, proves that reality is, at times, pure literature.’
Babelia, Spain
‘This last story [Killing Daniel], shocked me so much that, in the absence of a punching ball, I jumped out of bed, put my shoes on and went for a run until my rage subsided. And I know—or thought I knew—how to control my anger.’
Esquire Magazine, Spain
‘A first-class author, who shines with her open and sharp view… Her writing makes these real stories come alive.’
La Razon, Spain
‘Her prose is wiry, stark, precise, but to find her equal for the tone of generous humanity one has to call up writers like Isaac Babel and Anton Chekhov.’
Wall Street Journal
‘Garner’s non-fiction is often driven by the question why. Ruthless and full-blooded, her journalism nevertheless displays the greatest nimbleness in its accommodation of ambivalence and uncertainty. Her short stories, on the other hand, have a tendency to rise seamlessly towards epiphany.’
Times Literary Supplement
‘This collection of columns, essays and feature writing from the early 1970s to the present is a real treat, offering immersive journalism, humour, whimsy and analysis.’
Overland
‘As I leaf through the volumes, having just re-read both of them, I am still brought up short by another revelatory insight of the everyday…I could go on and on, but I am out of words. Many happy returns Helen Garner!’
Adelaide Advertiser
‘Helen Garner’s collections of fiction and nonfiction corroborate her reputation as a great stylist and a great witness.’
Peter Craven, Australian, Books of the Year 2017
‘Smoking dope and eating spaghetti, the abrupt ending of a happy marriage, the psychological effect of wearing stripes. Helen Garner takes slivers of daily life, sometimes the most mundane, and gently folds them into poetry on the page.’
Australian Gourmet Traveller
‘Memoirist, fiction writer, faction writer, journalist? Australian critics and booksellers have stopped trying to pigeonhole Melburnian writer Helen Garner and now just give her prizes…These stories and essays are the work of a natural storyteller, of an unsparing yet sympathetic eye…It’s all wonderful stuff: unstinting honesty, clarity and charm. Dive in.’
North & South
‘This is the power of Garner’s writing. She drills into experience and comes up with such clean, precise distillations of life, once you read them they enter into you. Successive generations of writers have felt the keen influence of her work and for this reason Garner has become part of us all.’
Australian
‘True Stories by Helen Garner—I mean, really. Helen. Helen Garner. Do you hear that sound? It is the sound of glitter cannons exploding in my heart.’
Marieke Hardy, Melbourne Writers Festival Staff Summer Reading List
‘Stories and True Stories are handsome companion volumes deservedly celebrating Helen Garner, our greatest contemporary practitioner of observation, self-interrogation and compassion. Everything she writes, in her candid, graceful prose, rings true, enlightens, stays.’
Joan London, Sydney Morning Herald’s Year in Reading
‘Published in beautiful editions to celebrate life given shape in words.’
Drusilla Modjeska, Sydney Morning Herald’s Year in Reading
‘Both of these books are concerned with moments of heartbreak and of hope, with loneliness and love, and with great cruelties, and the things that drive people to them. They are animated by a desire to understand what seems unfathomable, and to pay attention to the small pleasures of the everyday. Garner's precise descriptions, her interest in minute shifts of emotion, and the ways in which we reveal ourselves to others are always at work in these books, and make them a real joy to read.’
Age
El Cultural, Spain
‘The chameleon-like non-fiction of the Australian Helen Garner, queen of the effervescent true crime, proves that reality is, at times, pure literature.’
Babelia, Spain
‘This last story [Killing Daniel], shocked me so much that, in the absence of a punching ball, I jumped out of bed, put my shoes on and went for a run until my rage subsided. And I know—or thought I knew—how to control my anger.’
Esquire Magazine, Spain
‘A first-class author, who shines with her open and sharp view… Her writing makes these real stories come alive.’
La Razon, Spain
‘Her prose is wiry, stark, precise, but to find her equal for the tone of generous humanity one has to call up writers like Isaac Babel and Anton Chekhov.’
Wall Street Journal
‘Garner’s non-fiction is often driven by the question why. Ruthless and full-blooded, her journalism nevertheless displays the greatest nimbleness in its accommodation of ambivalence and uncertainty. Her short stories, on the other hand, have a tendency to rise seamlessly towards epiphany.’
Times Literary Supplement
‘This collection of columns, essays and feature writing from the early 1970s to the present is a real treat, offering immersive journalism, humour, whimsy and analysis.’
Overland
‘As I leaf through the volumes, having just re-read both of them, I am still brought up short by another revelatory insight of the everyday…I could go on and on, but I am out of words. Many happy returns Helen Garner!’
Adelaide Advertiser
‘Helen Garner’s collections of fiction and nonfiction corroborate her reputation as a great stylist and a great witness.’
Peter Craven, Australian, Books of the Year 2017
‘Smoking dope and eating spaghetti, the abrupt ending of a happy marriage, the psychological effect of wearing stripes. Helen Garner takes slivers of daily life, sometimes the most mundane, and gently folds them into poetry on the page.’
Australian Gourmet Traveller
‘Memoirist, fiction writer, faction writer, journalist? Australian critics and booksellers have stopped trying to pigeonhole Melburnian writer Helen Garner and now just give her prizes…These stories and essays are the work of a natural storyteller, of an unsparing yet sympathetic eye…It’s all wonderful stuff: unstinting honesty, clarity and charm. Dive in.’
North & South
‘This is the power of Garner’s writing. She drills into experience and comes up with such clean, precise distillations of life, once you read them they enter into you. Successive generations of writers have felt the keen influence of her work and for this reason Garner has become part of us all.’
Australian
‘True Stories by Helen Garner—I mean, really. Helen. Helen Garner. Do you hear that sound? It is the sound of glitter cannons exploding in my heart.’
Marieke Hardy, Melbourne Writers Festival Staff Summer Reading List
‘Stories and True Stories are handsome companion volumes deservedly celebrating Helen Garner, our greatest contemporary practitioner of observation, self-interrogation and compassion. Everything she writes, in her candid, graceful prose, rings true, enlightens, stays.’
Joan London, Sydney Morning Herald’s Year in Reading
‘Published in beautiful editions to celebrate life given shape in words.’
Drusilla Modjeska, Sydney Morning Herald’s Year in Reading
‘Both of these books are concerned with moments of heartbreak and of hope, with loneliness and love, and with great cruelties, and the things that drive people to them. They are animated by a desire to understand what seems unfathomable, and to pay attention to the small pleasures of the everyday. Garner's precise descriptions, her interest in minute shifts of emotion, and the ways in which we reveal ourselves to others are always at work in these books, and make them a real joy to read.’
Age
January 11, 2018
‘Everything around me is seething with meaning, if I can only work out what it is .’
I want to have my own copy of this book: this collection of Helen Garner’s short non-fiction, spanning fifty years of her work. I’ve borrowed a copy from the library, had access to an electronic copy for review purposes, and I’ll be buying a hard copy of my own.
There’s something about the way in which Helen Garner translates experiences and observations into words. Some of these pieces I can identify with easily. As Ms Garner writes, in ‘The Insults of Age ’:
‘I had known for years, of course, that beyond a certain age women become invisible in public spaces.’
It’s one thing to know it, another to experience it. Sigh.
Other pieces, such as ‘Killing Daniel’ (about the murder of Daniel Valerio) and ‘Why She Broke’ (about Akon Guode driving into Lake Gladman) reduce me to tears. Ms Garner adds depth in her non-fiction short stories, illumining aspects that are rarely apparent in the frenetic media cover of these horrific events.
I’ve read many of these non-fiction pieces before: in ‘Everywhere I look’ or ‘The Feel of Steel’. And, even when the subject matter is of limited appeal to me (‘A Spy in the House of Excrement’) there’s something in Ms Garner’s writing that holds my attention.
While many of these pieces of non-fiction are about events that are external to Ms Garner (in the sense that she is primarily an observer) others are about her role as a daughter, a mother, a teacher. ‘My Child in the World’ is a beautiful account of Ms Garner watching her daughter in the schoolyard, at the edge of her social group. And her accounts of life as a grandmother are just magical!
This book and its companion, the much smaller ‘Stories: The Collected Short Fiction’, have been released as Helen Garner turns 75. Both will find a home on my bookshelf.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
I want to have my own copy of this book: this collection of Helen Garner’s short non-fiction, spanning fifty years of her work. I’ve borrowed a copy from the library, had access to an electronic copy for review purposes, and I’ll be buying a hard copy of my own.
There’s something about the way in which Helen Garner translates experiences and observations into words. Some of these pieces I can identify with easily. As Ms Garner writes, in ‘The Insults of Age ’:
‘I had known for years, of course, that beyond a certain age women become invisible in public spaces.’
It’s one thing to know it, another to experience it. Sigh.
Other pieces, such as ‘Killing Daniel’ (about the murder of Daniel Valerio) and ‘Why She Broke’ (about Akon Guode driving into Lake Gladman) reduce me to tears. Ms Garner adds depth in her non-fiction short stories, illumining aspects that are rarely apparent in the frenetic media cover of these horrific events.
I’ve read many of these non-fiction pieces before: in ‘Everywhere I look’ or ‘The Feel of Steel’. And, even when the subject matter is of limited appeal to me (‘A Spy in the House of Excrement’) there’s something in Ms Garner’s writing that holds my attention.
While many of these pieces of non-fiction are about events that are external to Ms Garner (in the sense that she is primarily an observer) others are about her role as a daughter, a mother, a teacher. ‘My Child in the World’ is a beautiful account of Ms Garner watching her daughter in the schoolyard, at the edge of her social group. And her accounts of life as a grandmother are just magical!
This book and its companion, the much smaller ‘Stories: The Collected Short Fiction’, have been released as Helen Garner turns 75. Both will find a home on my bookshelf.
Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Text Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
January 10, 2026
This is a wonderful collection of Helen Garner’s short non-fiction writing, published for her 75th birthday, covering her previous 50 years of writing, and accompanied by a companion book featuring her short fiction. Her writing spans all aspects of Australian life, from birth to death, and people she has met from all walks of life.
Garner’s writing is so personal, with such warmth and humour, even when she is writing true crime, that she is one of my favourite writers. There are too many accounts here that I love that it’s impossible to single out just a few for review. Instead, I highly recommend you buy or borrow a copy to read.
With thanks to Text Publishing via Netgalley for a copy to read
Garner’s writing is so personal, with such warmth and humour, even when she is writing true crime, that she is one of my favourite writers. There are too many accounts here that I love that it’s impossible to single out just a few for review. Instead, I highly recommend you buy or borrow a copy to read.
With thanks to Text Publishing via Netgalley for a copy to read
October 18, 2017
So many favourites amongst this collection. Personally I connected with the later stories but this collection I think will be enjoyed with great pleasure by anyone who loves the written word
Favourites are
All the stories of life with the authors 4 sisters and one almost invisible brother
Germaine Greer and feminism
On turning 50
The mortuary
The horrendously terrifying tale of a visit to a gun expo, pay particular attention to the expressions on the men's faces
omg. The story of being a court reporter and the truly awful story of the murder of a young boy at the hand of his mothers boyfriend. Omg. I had to put the book away and go outside and garden in the rain for a while after this one
So clever
A week of Melbourne train journeys
The penultimate story about a crematorium
And the final story about a day in a labour ward
Clever, brilliant writing. I gave it 4 stars purely because I did not connect so well with the early stories.
Favourites are
All the stories of life with the authors 4 sisters and one almost invisible brother
Germaine Greer and feminism
On turning 50
The mortuary
The horrendously terrifying tale of a visit to a gun expo, pay particular attention to the expressions on the men's faces
omg. The story of being a court reporter and the truly awful story of the murder of a young boy at the hand of his mothers boyfriend. Omg. I had to put the book away and go outside and garden in the rain for a while after this one
So clever
A week of Melbourne train journeys
The penultimate story about a crematorium
And the final story about a day in a labour ward
Clever, brilliant writing. I gave it 4 stars purely because I did not connect so well with the early stories.
March 16, 2021
I've always been a fan of Helen Garner's writing and this collection of non-fiction essays has plenty of gems. Most of the collection was written during the 1980s & 90s and includes her interesting take on high school teaching (naive but somehow right), country living (a little overwritten for me) and a reflection on the reactions to her controversial book, The First Stone. There is an honesty and forthrightness about Garner's writing that gets right to the guts of things. Whether you're an admirer of her views or not, she is someone who is not afraid to ask the hard questions and give insights on topics that are often oversimplified. A fantastic collection, especially for those unfamiliar with Garner's writing who'd like to get an overview of her work.
June 12, 2017
Excellent writing on an interesting range of subjects. I loved her sisters piece . Her reflections on the reception of The First Stone are enlightening, makes me mad all over again about how some people missed her point about power, who has it and how it's used. Lots of people supported her view. One or two pieces were too close to the bone for me, birth and death, she goes where I don't want to. Helen Garner is the ultimate crafter of clear, complex, compelling writing. Just an immensely enjoyable read.
December 11, 2017
Garner is terrific as always, but reading this book was particularly fascinating as you can see her progression as a writer over the years. In her case, she got better and better with age. It doesn't happen to that many writers, many peak somewhere between 30s and 50s, then decline. Not Garner though.
December 2, 2017
I read this very slowly, dipping in and out of each essay. The majority I really enjoyed, a couple I skipped over. Well written, with clear writing that has stood the test of time.
Favourites were the one about turning 50, and one earlier on, when she interviews her sisters.
Favourites were the one about turning 50, and one earlier on, when she interviews her sisters.
December 16, 2017
I like the way Helen Garner writes, she can tell a story that makes you feel like you are there standing alongside her in the tale. Christos Tsiolkos makes me feel the same way, all my senses come alive when I read them both. Must be something in the Melbourne water.
I had read this book years ago and borrowed it again from the library recently and enjoyed it as much as I did the first time around. The stories involve life in all its stages. The tale of the Melbourne Mortuary really hit home this time around because I had to visit the place with my work recently. I had only just finished the story and was called to deliver a lovely soul into its fold. As I stood and looked around the place, I felt Helen's presence with notebook in hand scribbling down notes while she observed the life inside the walls of death. I too saw the scrubbed floors, white gumboots and the 'ordinary' people who work in the building attending to those in the who end up in the Coroners Care.
Helen has a unique ability to capture life, with it's sounds, sights and smells and present them on a page that encapsulates it perfectly.
I had read this book years ago and borrowed it again from the library recently and enjoyed it as much as I did the first time around. The stories involve life in all its stages. The tale of the Melbourne Mortuary really hit home this time around because I had to visit the place with my work recently. I had only just finished the story and was called to deliver a lovely soul into its fold. As I stood and looked around the place, I felt Helen's presence with notebook in hand scribbling down notes while she observed the life inside the walls of death. I too saw the scrubbed floors, white gumboots and the 'ordinary' people who work in the building attending to those in the who end up in the Coroners Care.
Helen has a unique ability to capture life, with it's sounds, sights and smells and present them on a page that encapsulates it perfectly.
December 28, 2017
I loved these short non fiction stories which I heard read aloud by the author as an audio book. She tackles subjects not pleasurable to all readers, and for this I appreciate her all the more. I did wonder if I would have been able to actually read some of these stories on the page, but managed to hold to her honest resonant voice enough to bear one story in particle. Listening being, for me, a more receptive way of taking in information, compared to the activity of reading.
Some stories I needed to listen over, and listen again deeply, to notice more and reflect on the experience of listening, and later I found myself telling people what ‘I’d heard Helen say’.
Some stories I needed to listen over, and listen again deeply, to notice more and reflect on the experience of listening, and later I found myself telling people what ‘I’d heard Helen say’.
January 1, 2023
A compilation that reminds me of Garner's power when focused on the ordinariness of unspeakable crimes. 'Why She Broke', 'Killing Daniel' and the entirety of 'Part Four: On Darkness' from the section Everywhere I Look are authoritative and emotional; her other musings pale when positioned in parallel.
May 15, 2018
I really liked the chronological progression of the stories as I felt I gained such an insight to her development as a writer and into her personal life journey. She is such a good writer. Have to take it back to the library but will have to buy my own copy.
October 21, 2022
No he leído una sola novela de Helen Garner, si la he descubierto es porque hace años, cuando trabajaba en la radio, alguien decidió dejarlo en el montón de libros que se recibían a diario en la redacción y nadie quería. Yo pasaba de vez en cuanto por aquella montaña de libros y me quedaba con algunos. Éste fue uno de ellos. Lo cogí en 2018 y lo he leído ahora. Devorado, más bien.
“Historias reales” es un libro de artículos, crónicas, reportajes escritos en un arco de unos veinte años, de los 70 a los 90. Arranca partiéndote el corazón con “El señor Tiarapu”, el relato de cómo una visita a un amigo ingresado en el hospital acabó convirtiéndola en intérprete de un hombre ingresado incapaz de saber qué le pasaba porque nadie hablaba su idioma. Te atrapan también sus reportajes sobre el instituto forense de Melbourne, un crematorio o la sala de bodas del ayuntamiento. Aunque sin dudarlo, me quedo con dos: “Álbum de recortes”, un fantástico ejercicio de memoria con el que compone un retrato de su familia a través de los recuerdos de sus hermanas, y “Cipreses y chapiteles” donde explica la singularidad de trabajar en un equipo de guion.
May 7, 2017
This is my fourth Garner book. It wasn’t till I was well into it that I realized that it had been first published some years ago (1996) In 1997 it won the Kibble Literary Award. I had wondered why another selection of short stories had been released so soon after “Everywhere I Look.”
The stories in this anthology were written in the 1980s and early 1990s. I find Garner’s writing personal with just enough style and finesse to stop you occasional and reflect on the image that she has created with the words she has used.
Much of Garner’s writing has been non-fiction as she has worked as a journalist for many years.
The stories differ in their interest for the reader. I found the stories about her family and, especially her sisters somewhat repetitive at times.
As a teacher I found her descriptions of her sex lessons to pubescent teenagers in the early 70s to be amusing. She was dismissed from the Victorian Education Department after an investigation. I guess you’d probably get the sack in 2017 for doing what she did. But it was a good way to gain the confidence of difficult teenagers.
Garner lived in a dilapidated farmhouse and her account of when her father visited her was so meaningful for many of us. Her descriptive writing in this story is Garner at her illustrative best.
She writes of her contact with Patrick White, his companion Lascaris and David Marr’s biography of White. I read Marr’s biography and much else about him and I think Garner is accurate in her description and summary of this cantankerous man.
She writes about her visit to a morgue – a fascinating and moving account of, what for some is their every day work. Her account of women in old age is insightful and so “Garner.”
There is her description of the murder of two year old Daniel Valerio and all the missed opportunities to rescue this innocent young boy from the hands of this monstrous man, Paul Leslie Aiton, Daniel’s mother’s boyfriend.
Finally, her account of the reaction to the publication of “The First Stone: Some Questions of Sex and Power" is a powerful defence against those who attacked her. I have not read the book, but I am very aware of the ruptures it caused, especially in feminist circles. I can identify with Garner’s sentiments, not just with feminists but others, such as trade unionists, environmentalist, religious people who only believe in one view and are vitriolic towards others whose view differs from theirs. I read some reviews on Goodreads and quickly saw evidence of this.
Although these stories are over twenty years old they still have relevance and meaning in 2017.
The stories in this anthology were written in the 1980s and early 1990s. I find Garner’s writing personal with just enough style and finesse to stop you occasional and reflect on the image that she has created with the words she has used.
Much of Garner’s writing has been non-fiction as she has worked as a journalist for many years.
The stories differ in their interest for the reader. I found the stories about her family and, especially her sisters somewhat repetitive at times.
As a teacher I found her descriptions of her sex lessons to pubescent teenagers in the early 70s to be amusing. She was dismissed from the Victorian Education Department after an investigation. I guess you’d probably get the sack in 2017 for doing what she did. But it was a good way to gain the confidence of difficult teenagers.
Garner lived in a dilapidated farmhouse and her account of when her father visited her was so meaningful for many of us. Her descriptive writing in this story is Garner at her illustrative best.
She writes of her contact with Patrick White, his companion Lascaris and David Marr’s biography of White. I read Marr’s biography and much else about him and I think Garner is accurate in her description and summary of this cantankerous man.
She writes about her visit to a morgue – a fascinating and moving account of, what for some is their every day work. Her account of women in old age is insightful and so “Garner.”
There is her description of the murder of two year old Daniel Valerio and all the missed opportunities to rescue this innocent young boy from the hands of this monstrous man, Paul Leslie Aiton, Daniel’s mother’s boyfriend.
Finally, her account of the reaction to the publication of “The First Stone: Some Questions of Sex and Power" is a powerful defence against those who attacked her. I have not read the book, but I am very aware of the ruptures it caused, especially in feminist circles. I can identify with Garner’s sentiments, not just with feminists but others, such as trade unionists, environmentalist, religious people who only believe in one view and are vitriolic towards others whose view differs from theirs. I read some reviews on Goodreads and quickly saw evidence of this.
Although these stories are over twenty years old they still have relevance and meaning in 2017.
August 19, 2018
Some great pieces that evoke modern Australia wonderfully - I particularly liked the account of teaching sex ed to migrant children. Occasionally a little boring. I'd recommend the Audible version that is read by the author herself.
The one inclusion that seemed really out-of-place was Garner's weirdly defensive account of the criticism she received after publishing The First Stone (which I haven't read) - this reads like a grumbly whinge motivated by a bad community reaction to the book. The sanctimonious tone that she adopts for this piece is very jarring compared with the honesty and vulnerability that I usually love to read in her stuff, and feels motivated by insecurity. I'd be interested to know whether Garner's feelings about this piece have changed now that the events she describes are less fresh. As Garner herself acknowledges, the alleged victims had no obligation to be interviewed by her -- I think it's pretty poor form to use your platform as a *national literary treasure* to make insinuations about alleged sexual assault victims in a *literary medium* (especially now, so many years later). If I wasn't such a huge fan of other particular pieces in this collection, or Garner in general, I'd subtract more stars for this.
The one inclusion that seemed really out-of-place was Garner's weirdly defensive account of the criticism she received after publishing The First Stone (which I haven't read) - this reads like a grumbly whinge motivated by a bad community reaction to the book. The sanctimonious tone that she adopts for this piece is very jarring compared with the honesty and vulnerability that I usually love to read in her stuff, and feels motivated by insecurity. I'd be interested to know whether Garner's feelings about this piece have changed now that the events she describes are less fresh. As Garner herself acknowledges, the alleged victims had no obligation to be interviewed by her -- I think it's pretty poor form to use your platform as a *national literary treasure* to make insinuations about alleged sexual assault victims in a *literary medium* (especially now, so many years later). If I wasn't such a huge fan of other particular pieces in this collection, or Garner in general, I'd subtract more stars for this.
May 5, 2018
True Stories is a massive book - 800 dense pages (you have to see it in the less to appreciate it), collecting all Helen Garner's previously published short non-fiction. This spans decades. The early works date to the 1970s, the last ones were first published only a couple of years ago.
Helen Garner has created a style where fact and fiction are blended; observation and impression are interwoven. If Garner observes something - people at a health spa - then the facts and Garner's thoughts are treated as equally certain. Or, perhaps, equally subjective.
This is not a collection to read from go to whoa. It is a resource to dip into, to snatch a story or two between planes or trains.
The true stories help us see the world through curious, judging eyes. Garner is generous in her judgements, but judging nonetheless.
Helen Garner has created a style where fact and fiction are blended; observation and impression are interwoven. If Garner observes something - people at a health spa - then the facts and Garner's thoughts are treated as equally certain. Or, perhaps, equally subjective.
This is not a collection to read from go to whoa. It is a resource to dip into, to snatch a story or two between planes or trains.
The true stories help us see the world through curious, judging eyes. Garner is generous in her judgements, but judging nonetheless.
June 17, 2017
With masterly writing and amazing insights into the human condition, both personally and about others, Helen Garner takes us on a series of honest reflections of her work, of court cases, of bumping into people or overhearing their conversations. There's a lovely spareness to her prose which lays bare her meaning but is nevertheless evocative. I loved the "take no prisoners" interactions between her sisters, the way she closed up like a clam when asked for money, and her thoughts on feminism!
March 11, 2018
Incredible as always. I listened to this as an audio book narrated by Garner herself and I’m always surprised by her voice- it’s clipped and sounds a bit New Zealand-ish. Definitely not as polished as her writing!
I didn’t enjoy all of this collection- her author essays didn’t grab me a lot but I loved her human interest pieces- of her and her sisters, her travels on the Victorian train system in the early 90s and her time in the labour ward. Her writing gets better and better.
I didn’t enjoy all of this collection- her author essays didn’t grab me a lot but I loved her human interest pieces- of her and her sisters, her travels on the Victorian train system in the early 90s and her time in the labour ward. Her writing gets better and better.
March 24, 2022
I have such a fondness for Helen Garner's turn of phrase. Although parts of this selection of work didn't really appeal to me, I found in particular her reflections on sisterhood to be so moving, and so touching, and so close in many ways to my experiences of being one of a large brood of sisters. She lost me at points, but even at those points her descriptions are beautiful. I'm obsessed with her, which grows with each work I read.
March 27, 2022
A humane book, filled with joy, despair, wit, humour, self-deflation, and earnestness (but not too earnest). Helen Garner was unknown to me until I read a recent review of her diaries, and I'm glad of the discovery. A few essays are less interesting than others, or repeat phrases (only a couple of instances of that), and that's to be expected; what's unexpected is how the bulk is worthwhile and pleasurable. Definitely recommended.
December 3, 2019
95 essays of various merit but mostly very good and some of them superb. Her sections called "Dreams of her Real Self" and "Notes from a Brief Friendship" are a masterclass in writing. I will never tire of reading her.
December 28, 2022
I’m a big Helen Garner fan and will read everything she writes forever. This was a big collection of essays that I’ve been dipping in and out for months. She’s such a great observer and I so appreciate that she started keeping diaries in her youth and has continued so consistently.
April 6, 2009
A collection of short stories based on her own life. Everyone has stories. It has me remembering aspects of my own life in vivid detail. She's a master observer and recorder of the human condition.
December 12, 2021
Another anthology where I end up giving it a three, because some stories I really loved and others didn't grab me, so lets go straight down the middle with the rating!
August 26, 2018
This collection was as impressive as I had expected. There are many powerful pieces here. In some cases the power comes from the subject matter; for example, the utterly heartbreaking 'Killing Daniel', which will stay with me for a very long time. In other cases, the subject matter is mundane on the surface, but Garner's observational skill and the quality of the writing transform what might be dull or conventional in other hands into something significant and moving.
All the pieces in this collection are exquisitely written, but some didn't hold my interest as much as others. For example, it was hard for me to engage with reviews or articles about books I haven't read and am unlikely to read. But there were many more pieces that I connected with and which moved me.
It is hard to pick a favourite. 'My Child in the World' captures many of my feelings about my own daughter. 'A Scrapbook, An Album' beautifully illustrates the complex relationships between sisters. 'Wan, Tew, Three, Faw' shows the power of music, regardless of the skill of the performers. 'The Violet Jacket' sends a powerful message based on a small, insignificant interaction. And several of the pieces demonstrate Garner's remarkable ability to observe people and capture what she sees through her prose: 'At the Morgue', 'Sunday at the Gun Show', 'Five Train Trips', 'Marriage', 'Death', and the final piece in the collection, 'Labour Ward, Penrith', which ends the collection on an uplifting note.
This collection is well worth reading, bringing some powerful writing to a new audience.
All the pieces in this collection are exquisitely written, but some didn't hold my interest as much as others. For example, it was hard for me to engage with reviews or articles about books I haven't read and am unlikely to read. But there were many more pieces that I connected with and which moved me.
It is hard to pick a favourite. 'My Child in the World' captures many of my feelings about my own daughter. 'A Scrapbook, An Album' beautifully illustrates the complex relationships between sisters. 'Wan, Tew, Three, Faw' shows the power of music, regardless of the skill of the performers. 'The Violet Jacket' sends a powerful message based on a small, insignificant interaction. And several of the pieces demonstrate Garner's remarkable ability to observe people and capture what she sees through her prose: 'At the Morgue', 'Sunday at the Gun Show', 'Five Train Trips', 'Marriage', 'Death', and the final piece in the collection, 'Labour Ward, Penrith', which ends the collection on an uplifting note.
This collection is well worth reading, bringing some powerful writing to a new audience.
March 28, 2025
Embark on a journey through the intricacies of life, where the mundane sparkles with profound meaning in this collection of short non-fiction stories.
Garner expertly illustrates how our personal, societal, and everyday experiences can yield insights when approached with honesty, curiosity, and keen observation. Her ability to weave together the complexities of human relationships, identity, and change captivated me from the very first page.
Garner’s work spans 25 years of her life in Australia, seamlessly flowing from one story to the next. Each piece is drawn from her own experiences, exploring themes that are both deeply personal and universally relevant. From her reflections on abandoning a teaching career to her visits to a morgue and a maternity ward, she paints a vivid picture of her world. The way she recounts her familial relationships—growing up as one of five sisters, watching her mother descend into dementia, and experiencing the joys of becoming a grandmother—offers readers a window into her inner world. Her writing is raw, authentic, and at times, gritty, which resonated with me deeply.
One of the standout aspects of Garner's collection is her remarkable ability to find meaning in the everyday. I was particularly struck by her accounts of sisterhood, which traversed childhood, teenage disagreements, marriages, separations, and loss. Her writing style reminded me of the reminiscent quality found in Kelly McGregor's Iris, which I had read previously. Garner's prose is crisp and concise, drawing readers into her experiences with a magnetic pull.
A quote that particularly resonated with me was Garner's assertion that “the ordinary is the extraordinary waiting to be noticed.” This philosophy is woven throughout her stories, encouraging readers to reflect on their own lives. It made me reconsider how often I overlook the beauty in my daily experiences.
I first encountered Garner through a podcast on ABC's Radio National, where I was captivated by her unconventional approach to sex education. Her bold declaration to her students, “Before we can start, I want to make you understand that the words some people think of as dirty words are the best words, the right words to use when you are talking about sex. So, I'm not going to say, "sexual intercourse", I'm going to say "fuck", and I'm going to say "cock" and "cunt" too, so we'd better get that straight. Is that OK?” struck me as both liberating and revolutionary.
Her willingness to challenge societal norms left me eager to delve deeper into her work. However, I also found myself grappling with the implications of her language choices. While I appreciated her intent to eradicate shame around sexuality, I felt that her approach sometimes oversimplified the complexities of intimacy and could promote or encourage violence.
What struck me as important was the way her approach allowed the children to feel comfortable around her, comfortable enough to ask her all their burning questions about sex; her use of language instantly irradiated all shame, which I believe to be a wonderful thing. The other side of this left me feeling that while sometimes we “fuck” we don’t always and using only that language sets a black and white tone that I am not entirely comfortable with, and I don’t feel applies to all kinds of intimacy. Intimacy can also be soft, loving and gentle and shouldn't be degraded to something that is only transactional.
Garner does not shy away from confronting societal challenges, including mainstream feminist views, gender-based violence, and patriarchy—issues that remain relevant today. Yet, I found myself at odds with some of her opinions, particularly the idea that women's clothing contributes to sexual violence or assumptions about consent. I believe clothing can represent how women feel about themselves rather than how they wish to be perceived by others. In my view, contemporary feminism increasingly empowers women to challenge the notion of being objects of desire, allowing them to reclaim their narratives.
Garner’s writing sometimes reflects a victim-blaming mentality that was prevalent in her time and still lingers in various spheres today. It was surprising to see this perspective given her progressive stance on sex education, suggesting she is a complex figure who embodies both traditional and modern viewpoints. Despite my disagreements, I appreciate that she poses critical questions worth reflecting upon, igniting my desire to read more of her work, particularly The First Stone and Monkey Grip. I’m ready to approach these texts with an open mind, hoping to gain a deeper understanding of her views and the context behind them.
Throughout her stories, I often felt a sense of distance, as if Garner was just out of reach. While she touches on her writing process, her awkwardness, isolation and introversion, I craved more intimate insights into her thoughts and feelings. This yearning for connection may reflect our current cultural climate, where social media has made personal lives accessible, raising our expectations of artists and writers. Yet, perhaps this distance is intentional, allowing readers to project their own experiences onto her narratives.
Ultimately, True Stories met my expectations and left me feeling grateful and optimistic about my life. Garner’s ability to find meaning in the mundane is inspiring, and her reflections on identity resonate deeply with my own experiences as an introvert. I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a quick yet impactful read. It has encouraged me to embrace my own journey and to appreciate the extraordinary aspects of my everyday life, much like Garner does in her beautifully crafted stories.
Garner expertly illustrates how our personal, societal, and everyday experiences can yield insights when approached with honesty, curiosity, and keen observation. Her ability to weave together the complexities of human relationships, identity, and change captivated me from the very first page.
Garner’s work spans 25 years of her life in Australia, seamlessly flowing from one story to the next. Each piece is drawn from her own experiences, exploring themes that are both deeply personal and universally relevant. From her reflections on abandoning a teaching career to her visits to a morgue and a maternity ward, she paints a vivid picture of her world. The way she recounts her familial relationships—growing up as one of five sisters, watching her mother descend into dementia, and experiencing the joys of becoming a grandmother—offers readers a window into her inner world. Her writing is raw, authentic, and at times, gritty, which resonated with me deeply.
One of the standout aspects of Garner's collection is her remarkable ability to find meaning in the everyday. I was particularly struck by her accounts of sisterhood, which traversed childhood, teenage disagreements, marriages, separations, and loss. Her writing style reminded me of the reminiscent quality found in Kelly McGregor's Iris, which I had read previously. Garner's prose is crisp and concise, drawing readers into her experiences with a magnetic pull.
A quote that particularly resonated with me was Garner's assertion that “the ordinary is the extraordinary waiting to be noticed.” This philosophy is woven throughout her stories, encouraging readers to reflect on their own lives. It made me reconsider how often I overlook the beauty in my daily experiences.
I first encountered Garner through a podcast on ABC's Radio National, where I was captivated by her unconventional approach to sex education. Her bold declaration to her students, “Before we can start, I want to make you understand that the words some people think of as dirty words are the best words, the right words to use when you are talking about sex. So, I'm not going to say, "sexual intercourse", I'm going to say "fuck", and I'm going to say "cock" and "cunt" too, so we'd better get that straight. Is that OK?” struck me as both liberating and revolutionary.
Her willingness to challenge societal norms left me eager to delve deeper into her work. However, I also found myself grappling with the implications of her language choices. While I appreciated her intent to eradicate shame around sexuality, I felt that her approach sometimes oversimplified the complexities of intimacy and could promote or encourage violence.
What struck me as important was the way her approach allowed the children to feel comfortable around her, comfortable enough to ask her all their burning questions about sex; her use of language instantly irradiated all shame, which I believe to be a wonderful thing. The other side of this left me feeling that while sometimes we “fuck” we don’t always and using only that language sets a black and white tone that I am not entirely comfortable with, and I don’t feel applies to all kinds of intimacy. Intimacy can also be soft, loving and gentle and shouldn't be degraded to something that is only transactional.
Garner does not shy away from confronting societal challenges, including mainstream feminist views, gender-based violence, and patriarchy—issues that remain relevant today. Yet, I found myself at odds with some of her opinions, particularly the idea that women's clothing contributes to sexual violence or assumptions about consent. I believe clothing can represent how women feel about themselves rather than how they wish to be perceived by others. In my view, contemporary feminism increasingly empowers women to challenge the notion of being objects of desire, allowing them to reclaim their narratives.
Garner’s writing sometimes reflects a victim-blaming mentality that was prevalent in her time and still lingers in various spheres today. It was surprising to see this perspective given her progressive stance on sex education, suggesting she is a complex figure who embodies both traditional and modern viewpoints. Despite my disagreements, I appreciate that she poses critical questions worth reflecting upon, igniting my desire to read more of her work, particularly The First Stone and Monkey Grip. I’m ready to approach these texts with an open mind, hoping to gain a deeper understanding of her views and the context behind them.
Throughout her stories, I often felt a sense of distance, as if Garner was just out of reach. While she touches on her writing process, her awkwardness, isolation and introversion, I craved more intimate insights into her thoughts and feelings. This yearning for connection may reflect our current cultural climate, where social media has made personal lives accessible, raising our expectations of artists and writers. Yet, perhaps this distance is intentional, allowing readers to project their own experiences onto her narratives.
Ultimately, True Stories met my expectations and left me feeling grateful and optimistic about my life. Garner’s ability to find meaning in the mundane is inspiring, and her reflections on identity resonate deeply with my own experiences as an introvert. I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a quick yet impactful read. It has encouraged me to embrace my own journey and to appreciate the extraordinary aspects of my everyday life, much like Garner does in her beautifully crafted stories.
July 18, 2022
goals
December 1, 2023
Hard to give an overall review as this book as ‘Selected Non-fiction’ but I do love the way she writes and found a lot of it beautiful and compelling. A few of the stories were a snoozefest and also had a few shit takes feminism wise
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