Books

Confessions of a Qantas Flight Attendant: True Tales and Gossip from the Galley by Owen Beddall (Random House)

A tell-all from former Qantas flight attendant Owen Beddall. He spills the beans on the real behind-the-scenes antics of the first class crew, as well as the intimate conversations he has had with many celebrity passengers, including Cate Blanchett, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry and Russell Brand. While this memoir has some fun insight into the crew culture, it also reveals sad details of Olympic champion Grant Hackett’s battle with the drug Stilnox, which left a bitter taste in one’s mouth. (Antonia Acott)

Tara Moss. Photo: Supplied

The Fictional Women by Tara Moss (Harper Collins)

Author Tara Moss looks like she has had a charmed life: clever, beautiful and gifted, the mother of one has also survived some incredibly tough times in her 40-odd years. The Fictional Woman is her feminist ode to the battles every woman faces and some hard truths about the reality of being a successful model, celebrity and author. Her first non-fiction attempt to assured and captivating, asking the reader to think about gender, feminism, equality, women, men and parenting in a considered and interesting way. (Antonia Acott)

The Glass Kingdom by Chris Flynn (Text Publishing)

The Age described Chris Flynn’s voice in his Commonwealth Book Prize shortlisted debut novel A Tiger In Eden as, “blue-collar, profane, naïve and funny”, while the Daily Telegraph hailed it as the love child of Irvine Welsh and Elizabeth Gilbert. Both are fair calls, and The Glass Kingdom, his sophomore effort, is a similarly linguistically muscular affair, burning with irreverence. Told from the perspective of several narrators with ties to a travelling circus, the Kingdom, that lethargically makes its way around Australia’s bush towns, it’s a riveting read that plays like an outback Breaking Bad. (Stephen A Russell)

The Independent Member for Lyne by Rob Oakeshott (Allen & Unwin)

Announced with slightly less hoo ha than the memoir of a certain former Foreign Minister, Rob Oakeshott’s frank and thorough recollection of his years in the rough and tumble game of politics, from National Party up-and-comer to his break for independence and resulting kingmaker role in PM Julia Gillard’s hung parliament, is no-less fascinating, if not more so. He has a natural voice stripped of pretension and a beguiling honesty that reveals an honourable man’s attempt to make a difference, particularly on the environment and Indigenous rights, often in the face of crushing resistance. (Stephen A Russell)

Culture

One of the roasts on offer this weekend in Melbourne. Photo: Supplied

Adelaide: Adelaide Symphony Orchestra plays James Bond. Details here.  For more Adelaide entertainment information visit our sister site InDaily.

Brisbane: Romeo and Juliet by the Queensland Ballet. Details here.

Melbourne: The Roast Collection. One of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival’s year round food events. Details here.

Sydney: Good Food and Wine Show. Starts this weekend. Details here.

Perth: International Burlesque Festival launches on June 28. Details here.

Film

See The New Daily’s reviews of the latest films screeening in Australia below.

The Volcano (Eyjafjallajökull)
Yves Saint Laurent
The Last Impresario
The Edge of Tomorrow
The Fault in Our Stars
The Rover

Music

Jack White: Lazaretto (4 Stars)

Jack White the Third is still music’s Willy Wonka, experimenting inside his mysterious Third Man Records compound. Whether recording Neil Young on a 1947 model Voice-o-graph, recording, mixing and pressing a single in four hours, or whipping up analogue tricks that come with the ‘ultra LP’ version of Lazaretto (available in limited quantities in JB Hi-Fi), he’s a poster boy for music fanatics. But all that is mere novel tinkering next to the songs. We listen for the explosive exhilaration and sheer swagger he’s exuded since The White Stripes’ debut. Those qualities are here in spades: but under the sexed-up riffola and damn-it-all whoop and holler, there’s a broken heart on the mend (White divorced his wife of eight years, Karen Elson, in 2013) and there are plaintive drinking songs aplenty. But typically, it’s cheeky as-all-get out. Opener Three Women – all crashing Hammond organ and super tight horns – is a sassy riff on the ‘girl in every port’ tale. Read more at STACK Magazine.

Mia Dyson: Idyllwild (4.5 Stars)

Mia Dyson has one of the great voices. It’s a remarkable rasp, a voice that sounds like the morning after a big night in a smoky bar. It’s a voice filled with heartache and pain. And the most important thing is you believe every word she sings. Dyson obviously loves the classics – think Lucinda Williams, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen – and Idyllwild, her fifth album, sits comfortably alongside them. Yes, it’s that good. This is music for grown-ups; indeed, getting older appears to be a theme, with the wonderfully raw first single When We’re Older, and the glorious Growing Up, which has Dyson pondering the nature of success Read more at STACK Magazine.

Lily Allen: Sheezus (4 Stars)

“Lorde smells blood, yeah, she’s about to slay you” the ever mischievous Allen seems to sing on the title track of Sheezus, showing us she’s been keeping up to speed on pop during her five year hiatus. It’s probably the best track on her third long-player (also name-checking Katy Perry and Lady Gaga) as Allen worries about returning to fray (“it’s not that I’ve never done this/ then again, the game is changing/can’t just come back, jump on the mike and do the same thing”). It’s also a neat companion to the album closer (and comeback single) Hard Out Here, a caustic diatribe against the objectification of women – in pop and in general – and Silver Spoon, in which Allen hits back at critics of her so-called pampered rise to the top. Read more at STACK Magazine.