Lives (Peter Robb, Black Inc)

Lives is a collection of 40-odd loosely biographical pieces—some new, some previously published—from Australian author Peter Robb (Midnight in Sicily, M, Streetfight in Naples), which contains some wonderful writing but feels a little underdone as an anthology. The collection is divided into three parts—Australia, Italy and Elsewhere—and the subjects are drawn largely from artistic milieus: authors, artists, filmmakers and theatre directors, with the odd digression (director of intensive care John McCarthy, notorious backpacker murderer Ivan Milat). There are also long pieces on Robb’s specialty subjects: the Sicilian mafia and the Italian artist Caravaggio. Some of the standouts come early in the Australia section: the profile of Indigenous academic Marcia Langton reveals a formidable woman who turns briefly on Robb (‘She’s the butterfly and the bee. I’m a moth and I flew too close to the flame of her anger’); an interview with Alex Dimitriades explores the actor’s struggle to live up to his early promise (it opens with the ominous line, ‘Nearing 40, a man’s body begins to die’); and a trip to the Moree with Indigenous filmmaker Iven Sen takes the reader on ‘lappin’ circuits’ of the town with some of its bored Indigenous youths. Robb inserts himself into many of his profile pieces, sometimes successfully, other times indulgently, and his frequent digressions can be frustrating when basic biographical details have often been omitted. Readers who share Robb’s particular passions, however, will find his analysis insightful and provocative.

Andrea Hanke has awarded Lives three stars out of five. Andrea is the editor of Bookseller+Publisher magazine

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Category: Reviews