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'Every day I work on the edit of my book. I slog away, shifting chunks of material and moving them back, eating my salad in a daze, wondering if the linking passages I’ve written are leading me up a garden path, or are sentimental, or violate some unarticulated moral and technical code I’ve signed up to and feel trapped in or obliged to. The sheer bloody labour of writing. No one but another writer understands it—the heaving about of great boulders into a stable arrangement so that you can bound up them and plant your little flag at the very top.
'Spanning fifteen years of work, Helen Garner’s Everywhere I Look is a book full of unexpected moments—sudden shafts of light, piercing intuition, flashes of anger and laughter. It takes us from backstage at the ballet to the trial of a woman for the murder of her newborn baby. It moves effortlessly from the significance of moving house to the pleasure of re-reading Pride and Prejudice. 'Everywhere I Look includes Garner’s famous and controversial essay on the insults of age, her deeply moving tribute to her mother and extracts from her diaries, which have been part of her working life for as long as she has been a writer. Everywhere I Look glows with insight. It is filled with the wisdom of life. ' (Publication summary)
Contents
- Whisper and Hum, single work essay (p. 3-6)
- Some Furniture, single work essay (p. 7-10)
- White Paint and Calico, single work essay (p. 11-19)
- Suburbia, single work essay (p. 20-25)
- Dear Mrs Dunkley, extract correspondence (p. 29-33)
- Eight Views of Tim Winton, single work essay (p. 34-39)
- Notes from a Brief Friendship, single work essay (p. 40-46)
- From Frogmore, Victoria, single work essay (p. 47-57)
-
To My Dear Lift-Rat,
single work
essay
Helen Garner remembers her friendship with Elizabeth Jolley with affection.
- While Not Writing a Book, single work diary (p. 65-77)
- Red Dog : A Mutiny, single work essay (p. 78-81)
- Funk Paradise, single work essay (p. 82-89)
- Dreams of Her Real Self, single work autobiography (p. 90-105)
- Before Whatever Else Happens, single work essay (p. 106-118)
- Punishing Karen, single work essay (p. 121-125)
- The Singular Rosie, single work essay (p. 126-132)
- The City at Night, single work essay (p. 133-136)
- The Man in the Dock, single work essay (p. 137-140)
- On Darkness, single work essay (p. 141-152)
- The Journey of the Stamp Animals, single work autobiography (p. 155-157)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording. Read by Helen Garner.
Works about this Work
-
Prose That Makes Us "Laugh, Cry, Squirm and Gasp and Wonder" : Imagery, Memory, and Emotion in Helen Garner's Memoirs
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 33 no. 1 2019; (p. 22-39) 'Despite our awareness of the slipperiness of truth, literary memoirists continue to attract vast audiences, keen to immerse themselves in the skillful transformation of "experience into meaning and value" (Hampl, "Memory" 208). The rich tradition of the literary memoir differs from so-called pulp memoirs in relying less on narcissism and self-justification and more on storytelling, figurative language, dialogue, and "moments of imagination" (Bartkevicius 134). The result is the capacity to convey subjective experience, from both intellectual and emotional perspectives, thereby "plung[ing] the reader into the real heart of the matter" (Silverman 149). In effectively portraying the emotions that inevitably underpin the heart of the matter, literary memoirists can also have an emotional impact on us as readers, wherein we are invited to "laugh, cry, squirm and gasp and wonder" (Gaunt 22).' (Introduction) -
The Energiser
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , May no. 381 2016; (p. 19)
— Review of Everywhere I Look 2016 selected work essay -
Helen Garner : Everywhere I Look
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , May 2016;
— Review of Everywhere I Look 2016 selected work essay -
Everywhere I Look ; Review
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 7 May 2016; (p. 37)
— Review of Everywhere I Look 2016 selected work essay 'Everywhere I Look is a collection of often personal essays and diary entries spanning more than 15 years. It includes some famous pieces: a moving tribute to Garner’s mother (Dreams of Her Real Self), a heartfelt farewell to Elizabeth Jolley hung gracefully upon a bad haircut (My dear Lift-Rat).' -
Everywhere I Look, Helen Garner
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 26 March 2016;
— Review of Everywhere I Look 2016 selected work essay
-
Conscientious Observer
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian , 26 March 2016; (p. 16)
— Review of Everywhere I Look 2016 selected work essay'Dealing with everything from the insults of age to child murder, Helen Garner’s latest essay collection is masterful, writes Peter Craven.'
-
Blessed with a Tough and Tender Touch
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 9-10 April 2016; (p. 26)
— Review of Everywhere I Look 2016 selected work essay -
Felled by Grace
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Monthly , April no. 121 2016; (p. 48-50)
— Review of Everywhere I Look 2016 selected work essay -
Well Read : Garner's Personal Prose Invites Us In
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 9 April 2016; (p. 36)
— Review of Everywhere I Look 2016 selected work essay ; Maralinga's Long Shadow : Yvonne's Story 2016 single work biography -
Everywhere I Look, Helen Garner
2016
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 26 March 2016;
— Review of Everywhere I Look 2016 selected work essay -
Lunch With Helen Garner
2016
single work
column
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 9-10 April 2016; (p. 4) -
Prose That Makes Us "Laugh, Cry, Squirm and Gasp and Wonder" : Imagery, Memory, and Emotion in Helen Garner's Memoirs
2019
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , June vol. 33 no. 1 2019; (p. 22-39) 'Despite our awareness of the slipperiness of truth, literary memoirists continue to attract vast audiences, keen to immerse themselves in the skillful transformation of "experience into meaning and value" (Hampl, "Memory" 208). The rich tradition of the literary memoir differs from so-called pulp memoirs in relying less on narcissism and self-justification and more on storytelling, figurative language, dialogue, and "moments of imagination" (Bartkevicius 134). The result is the capacity to convey subjective experience, from both intellectual and emotional perspectives, thereby "plung[ing] the reader into the real heart of the matter" (Silverman 149). In effectively portraying the emotions that inevitably underpin the heart of the matter, literary memoirists can also have an emotional impact on us as readers, wherein we are invited to "laugh, cry, squirm and gasp and wonder" (Gaunt 22).' (Introduction)
Awards
- 2018 shortlisted Kibble Literary Awards — Nita Kibble Literary Award
- 2017 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction
- 2017 longlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian General Non-Fiction Book of the Year
- 2017 winner Indie Awards — Nonfiction