It's May the 1st

And right on cue in my mail box today was my May issue of MONOCLE. This is the third issue of this new magazine which I have raved about in earlier postings.

I was concerned about lack of availability of the magazine in NZ but Hamish Wright, that excellent independent bookseller from Cambridge, NZ informed me last week that it is now being automatically distributed to booksellers which is great news.


The lead story in the May issue is headed ACCIDENTAL EMPIRE - Solomon Islands & Papua New Guinea.

The seven page story written by well-known Aussie free-lance journalist Jackie Dent is prefaced thus:

Not since the Second World War have the islands of the Pacific been so hotly fought over. This time, however, the battle lines are diplomatic. China, the U.S. and Taiwan are all pitching in but it is Australia that is running the local police forces, propping up governments and trying to keep rebel leaders at bay. Now some are asking: Is Australia running an accidental empire.

I'll bet this story is widely read by bureacratic wonks and politicians on both sides of the Tasman.

Monocle May issue should already be sitting in the IN baskets on the desks of Alexander Downer and Phil Goff as I write.


THE MAIL BOX
I was in Christchurch on business yesterday so didn't get to clear my post office box. So there was an interesting pile of mail to collect today. Other magazines included:

New Zealand Listener May 5-11, 2007






Cover story - Toxins- How everyday chemicals link to infertility and cancer.






citymix May 07

The totally indispensable entertainment & food guide for Aucklanders. Another bumber issue of our own Time Out. citymix always brings home to me just how much there is to see and do in Auckland - Aucklanders should always give a copy to their visitors.


The New Yorker April 23, 2007



They almost always have the most appealing covers and this one is no exception.


Inside there is a huge amount of reading most of which I have yet to tackle but I did manage to read a piece called The Old Devil by one of my favourite writers, Adam Gopnik, in which he looks at Zachary Leader's The Life of Kingsley Amis.

Do have a read of it.

I met Amis once many years ago, over dinner at a Penguin Sales Conference in either Brighton or Southampton (can't recall which now and not surprisingly cannot find my notes from that time!) . I found him a difficult cuss and remember remarking to one of my colleagues that he was a grumpy old man. Reading the first paragraph in Gopnik's essay confirmed that my assessment was accurate!








And look at this wonderful Ralph Steadman portrait that accompanies the story/review.





You can bet that that is single malt whiskey in the glass, not wine!

For the record The Life of Kingsley Amis is published by Pantheon in the US ($39.95) and Cape in the UK (pds.25.00).
And if you would like to read a British review then go to this one from The Guardian.