Stacey Levine's MICE 1961 reviewed in the Washington Post

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Review by Lydia Millet

As I read Stacey Levine’s new novel Mice 1961 — which is not about small, intelligent rodents but about two young sisters and their live-in housekeeper — I laughed aloud many times. It was a startled, delighted laughter produced not by commonplace tricks of humor but something singular to Levine’s writing: a brilliant chemistry of alienation and familiarity I’ve never seen anywhere else.

Cracking open the novel, you may at first feel like a stranger in a strange land. But stick with it, because this is a rich and surprising country of curious hilarity, skewed lighting, awkward pratfalls and ludicrous conversations.

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Link to full review (paywalled) here; read free text version here

Hugh Raffles' THE BOOK OF UNCONFORMITIES wins the 2023 JJ Staley Prize

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The J.I. Staley Prize is awarded annually “to a living author for a book that exemplifies outstanding scholarship and writing in anthropology. The award recognizes innovative works that go beyond traditional frontiers and dominant schools of thought in anthropology and add new dimensions to our understanding of the human species.”

For the full story click here

Correction and apology to Andrew Duffield

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in the first printing of David Nichols's book Dig: Australian Rock and Pop Music 1960-85 (Verse Chorus Press, 2016), the following passage on page 453, regarding the history of the band Models, contains a serious factual error:

“Exact details of the arrival and departure of band members at this time are hazy and probably unimportant. Duffield – who was by this time using heroin, apparently in response to, or at least in conjunction with, some personal tragedies – was in and out of the band for a while, but Freud was definitely in, and contributing.”

Author and publisher acknowledge that the claim of drug use on the part of Andrew Duffield is false, and apologize unreservedly for the error, which has been corrected in subsequent printings.

 

June Wright's THE DEVIL'S CARESS adapted for the stage in Sydney

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Factory Space Theatre Company present a dramatic version of June Wright's "The Devil's Caress," adapted for the stage by Wendy Lewis, with 8 performances from Saturday 24 March through Saturday 14 April. Star of the Sea Theatre is located near the northern end of Manly Beach at Queenscliff, on the corner of Collingwood St and Iluka Ave. Parking is available at the northern end of the beach or in the surrounding streets. More details at http://www.factoryspace.org/