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Home Truth
An exceptional collection of personal stories on the meaning of 'home', featuring Peter Goldsworthy, Andrea Goldsmith, Gabrielle Lord, Marion Halligan, Matthew Condon, Rosaleen Love, Cassandra Pybus, Ian Britain, Carmel Bird and Michael McGirr.
In 1982 Steven Spielberg gave the world the imperative 'E.T. phone home'. This unlikely little clump of words went straight to the core of the matter. Connection with home is the genesis of hope. In this poignant and heartfelt collection, ten Australian writers take their own approach to the meaning of 'home'. Whether home for them is their country of origin, their town, their house or their relationships with others, almost all find that the concept of home sparks an examination of self and identity.
From Peter Goldsworthy's recollections of towns in different parts of Australia to Andrea Goldsmith's exploration of the home found - and lost - in another person, from Marion Halligan's homes in both hemispheres to Matthew Condon's discoveries about the accepted history of his home town, the writers demonstrate the ways in which home can be nurturing or full of quiet pain, fleeting or an eternal anchor.
In 1982 Steven Spielberg gave the world the imperative 'E.T. phone home'. This unlikely little clump of words went straight to the core of the matter. Connection with home is the genesis of hope. In this poignant and heartfelt collection, ten Australian writers take their own approach to the meaning of 'home'. Whether home for them is their country of origin, their town, their house or their relationships with others, almost all find that the concept of home sparks an examination of self and identity.
From Peter Goldsworthy's recollections of towns in different parts of Australia to Andrea Goldsmith's exploration of the home found - and lost - in another person, from Marion Halligan's homes in both hemispheres to Matthew Condon's discoveries about the accepted history of his home town, the writers demonstrate the ways in which home can be nurturing or full of quiet pain, fleeting or an eternal anchor.
- GenresNonfiction
304 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2010
9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 28, 2024
Brief amendments for clarity 28 January 2024
Disappointing stories, very loosely about the concept of home.
There are travellers’ tales, some introspective navel gazing, reportage and history, but really only one contribution worthy of the name: Peter Goldsworthy’s tale of his childhood in various country towns in South Australia, in the 1950s and sixties.
Because his dad was a teacher, regularly posted to different rural schools every couple of years, young Peter had to adapt to different towns and new schools and go to the trouble of making new friends. Because the accommodation provided by the South Australian Department of Education varied considerably from rudimentary to barely comfortable, Peter found himself essential to domestic management, assigned with chores to help keep the household going.
Of course, being in the county, there was still ample scope for adventuring. In Penola especially, he wrote copiously, and fed his growing interest in matters scientific (he became a doctor) with some reading materials found in the town dump.
As it happens, my step-daughter’s husband is from South Australia, with a younger brother who has done a teaching stint in Ceduna (pop: 3,500) on Murat Bay, about 800 kilometres from Adelaide, with desert to the west and to the north (that’s remote), with an average annual rainfall of 300 millimetres, (not a lot).
He says he enjoyed himself.
Disappointing stories, very loosely about the concept of home.
There are travellers’ tales, some introspective navel gazing, reportage and history, but really only one contribution worthy of the name: Peter Goldsworthy’s tale of his childhood in various country towns in South Australia, in the 1950s and sixties.
Because his dad was a teacher, regularly posted to different rural schools every couple of years, young Peter had to adapt to different towns and new schools and go to the trouble of making new friends. Because the accommodation provided by the South Australian Department of Education varied considerably from rudimentary to barely comfortable, Peter found himself essential to domestic management, assigned with chores to help keep the household going.
Of course, being in the county, there was still ample scope for adventuring. In Penola especially, he wrote copiously, and fed his growing interest in matters scientific (he became a doctor) with some reading materials found in the town dump.
As it happens, my step-daughter’s husband is from South Australia, with a younger brother who has done a teaching stint in Ceduna (pop: 3,500) on Murat Bay, about 800 kilometres from Adelaide, with desert to the west and to the north (that’s remote), with an average annual rainfall of 300 millimetres, (not a lot).
He says he enjoyed himself.
August 13, 2023
Ten Authors have written a collection of essays on what "HOME" means to them.
The answers are varied that is for sure. No two answers the same.
For some it was the childhood home, a memory, a town or a person.
I enjoyed the historical factors in some of the essays as I found that to be very interesting.
The answers are varied that is for sure. No two answers the same.
For some it was the childhood home, a memory, a town or a person.
I enjoyed the historical factors in some of the essays as I found that to be very interesting.
July 7, 2010
In a couple of weeks I will be speaking with Carmel Bird about her new book, an anthology of reflections by ten well-known Australian writers on the theme of “HOME”. Carmel’s book is “Home Truth” and an absorbing read it is. Within the set topic we find a variety of genres, from the more formal essay (by Carmel herself), to Matthew Condon’s brief “travel piece” on Brisbane and some John Oxley memorabilia. Every piece is worth reading, but I found novelist Andrea Goldsmith’s elegy on her late partner Dorothy Porter especially profound: honest, intimate, perceptive and very human.
December 5, 2010
A (so far) beautiful and at times heart-wrenching collection of personal stories on the meaning of 'home'. The editor and all contributors are Australian writers.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews