Current Issue #488

Book Review: David Marr's My Country

Book Review: David Marr's My Country

A decades-spanning collection of journalism from David Marr, My Country shows Marr is one of the nation’s most astute observers.

“He is a genius of sorts: he looks this country in the face and see us not as we wish we were, not as we one day might be but exactly as we are,” David Marr observes of John Howard.

The same can be said of Marr. But where Howard used his insight for, at times, cynical political gain, Marr’s reporting allows Australians the chance to have a good hard look at where we’re really at socially, politically and culturally. Spanning more than four decades, My Country is the ultimate collection of Marr’s journalism, beginning with Marr as a young reporter covering the Whitlam dismissal for The Bulletin.

But peak Marr comes later, observing Australia’s shift to the right during the Howard years for the Sydney Morning Herald and examining or profiling big Australian figures such as Ben Chifley, Patrick White and Kevin Rudd. An honest and vital collection.

Author: David Marr
Publisher: Black Inc

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