The Best Australian Business Writing 2012 (ed by Andrew Cornell, NewSouth)

Good business writing gives you the facts and the figures, the movers and shakers, the inside scoop. And it helps you make sense of all these things. Great business writing, however, goes one step further: it looks at the bigger picture; it explores the personalities behind the money; and it answers the question of why. The business writing featured in this new collection edited by Andrew Cornell—the first edition of a new annual anthology—falls into the second category and I was constantly surprised and impressed by the depth and quality of the selected pieces of work. The pieces have been chosen from Australia’s top business newspapers, the Australian Financial Review, the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, and the Australian, as well as a number of news websites, books, and journals like Quarterly Essay and Griffith REVIEW. The range of topics explored is diverse—from the invention of double-entry bookkeeping, to relationships in the workplace, the economic divide between Australian cities and country towns, the marketplace for arts curators, the rising consumer culture in China, and new Australian cricket competitions—but together, they paint a thoughtful and timely picture of contemporary society, both in Australia and around the world. This collection will appeal to general nonfiction readers, as well as those looking for an introduction to Australian business literature.

Eloise Keating is a journalist with Bookseller+Publisher. Not so long ago, she spent her time studying media and commerce at university.

Tags: newsouthnovember2012

Category: Reviews