Dear Village
We Are The Stars
$36.99
Gina Chick, the inaugural winner of Alone Australia, tells the story of her extraordinary, indomitable life in one of the most powerful, moving memoirs you will ever read. From day one of her wildly unconventional childhood, Gina Chick blazed her own trail, which led her to dance through the hidden world of ’90s Sydney nightlife into the arms of a conman. She fled to the wilderness to find healing, began a wondrous love affair with the deepest lessons life – and death – can offer, and found that all the answers are written in the wisdom of the body and the whirling silence of stars. If you’re ready to get lost in jungles, wander into wolf-dens, sing with storms, rescue orphaned animals, dive to the depths, dance ’til your knees wobble, fall in love, find yourself by losing it all, and most of all be real; this book is for you. We Are the Stars is a magic carpet ride through the exquisite mystery of the human heart. You’ve never read anything like it.
Dear Village
We Did Ok, Kid
$55.00
We Did Ok, Kid A RAW AND PASSIONATE MEMOIR FROM A COMPLEX, ICONIC MAN WHO HAS INSPIRED AUDIENCES WITH REMARKABLE PERFORMANCES FOR MORE THAN SIXTY YEARSBorn and raised in Port Talbot amid war and depression, Sir Anthony Hopkins grew up around men who were tough and eschewed any emotional vulnerability. A student who struggled in school, Sir Anthony was deemed by his peers, his parents and other adults as a failure with no future ahead of him. But on a fateful Saturday night, he watched the 1948 film adaptation of Hamlet and a passion sparked within him, marking the beginning of a path that no one could have predicted.With candour and vulnerability, Sir Anthony recounts his career milestones and provides a rare look into the brilliance behind some of his most iconic roles – from his admission to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to joining the Royal National Theatre as Laurence Olivier’s understudy and meeting his hero Richard Burton. And we learn how he used the stoicism of his father and grandfather for his unforgettable performance in King Lear.Sir Anthony also takes a deeply honest look at his personal life, from the addiction which destroyed his first two marriages and estranged him from his only child, to a near-death experience that propelled him towards nearly fifty years of sobriety. And, as the years go by, he is getting ready to discover what his father called the Big Secret.Through it all, there has been one constant fixture in Sir Anthony’s life: a small picture of little Tony at age three that he carries with him everywhere. Having come so far from the anxious child he once was, he can’t help but say to his young self, ‘We did OK, kid.’
Dear Village
Wes Anderson
$70.00
Wes Anderson is a true icon of contemporary cinema. His films are consistent cult favourites, starring a cast of top actors and have made indie films popular again.With his inimitable and idiosyncratic style, Anderson’s cinematic universe includes The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom and Isle of Dogs.Delivered in a quirky design which mirrors the aesthetic of an Anderson film, Wes Anderson: A Retrospective considers his entire oeuvre and reveals behind-the-scenes anecdotes, colour codes and where the visual Easter eggs are hidden.
Dear Village
When All Is Said & Done
$44.99
When All Is Said & DoneNEALE DANIHER AM was born in 1961 in Ungarie, a tiny town in New South Wales, the third of eleven children. A talented all-round sportsman, Neale's passion was Australian Rules; he played for Essendon Football Club in a promising but injury-plagued career between 1979 and 1990. He was part of the famous Daniher football dynasty: four brothers from the bush who played a combined 752 VFL/AFL games.In football, his off-field achievements are in coaching at Essendon, Fremantle and Melbourne football clubs, as inaugural CEO of the AFL Coaches Association, and as general manager of football operations with the West Coast Eagles. Neale co-founded FightMND in 2014 after he was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease. The foundation raises awareness and vital funds for research to find a cure and better treatment for 'The Beast' that takes two lives every day in Australia.Neale was originally awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for his tireless work in co-founding FightMND in 2016, in 2021 he was elevated to Officer of the Order of Australia. The Big Freeze highlights the former Dons Captain's unflagging determination to find a cure for motor neurone disease, having raised $50 million for treatment research since 2014.An 81-gamer with the Bombers from 1979-1990 and club Hall of Fame inductee, Neale has been a key figure in leading the FightMND campaign in helping educate the public and driving fundraising initiatives for curing MND.In 2016, Neale received a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) award for services to community health and to Australian Rules football. He and his wife, Jan, live in Melbourne and are the proud parents of Lauren, Luke, Bec and Ben. To find out more about Neale Daniher please visit www.nealedaniher.comWARWICK GREEN is a freelance writer. He has been a journalist and sports editor with The Age, the Sunday Age and News Corp. He co-wrote bestsellers My Story with Jim Stynes and Pushing the Limits with Kurt Fearnley. Warwick lives in Melbourne with Tif and their three children Jock, Lex, and Samantha.
Dear Village
Wifedom
$24.99
'Simply, a masterpiece. Here, Anna Funder not only re-makes the art of biography, she resurrects a woman in full. And this in a narrative that grips the reader and unfolds through some of the most consequential moments - historical and cultural - of the twentieth century.' GERALDINE BROOKS'There's exhilaration in reading every brilliant word.' CHLOE HOOPERLooking for wonder and some reprieve from the everyday, Anna Funder slips into the pages of her hero George Orwell. As she watches him create his writing self, she tries to remember her own...When she uncovers his forgotten wife, it's a revelation. Eileen O'Shaughnessy's literary brilliance shaped Orwell's work and her practical nous saved his life. But why - and how - was she written out of the story?Using newly discovered letters from Eileen to her best friend, Funder recreates the Orwells' marriage, through the Spanish Civil War and WW II in London. As she rolls up the screen concealing Orwell's private life she is led to question what it takes to be a writer - and what it is to be a wife.Compelling and utterly original, Wifedom speaks to the unsung work of women everywhere today, while offering a breathtakingly intimate view of one of the most important literary marriages of the 20th century. It is a book that speaks to our present moment as much as it illuminates the past.'So, she will live writing the letters she did - six to her best friend, and three to her husband. I know where she was when she wrote them. I know that the dishes were frozen in the sink, that she was bleeding, that he was in bed with another woman - and she knew it. . . .I supply only what a film director would, directing an actor on set - the wiping of spectacles, the ash on the carpet, a cat pouring itself off her lap.'
Dear Village
Would That Be Funny?
$22.99
A new edition of the warm and witty family memoir about the beloved comedian John Clarke by his daughter, Lorin Clarke. An uplifting look at how our families make us who we are.When satirist John Clarke died, in April 2017, many people mourned his passing as if they had lost a friend or a member of the family. Many of us felt we grew up with him. After all, for the best part of half a century, since he burst into our lives as Fred Dagg in 1974, he was a performer, an actor, a writer, a satirist and as a commentator in both Australia and New Zealand.In this fascinating memoir, Lorin Clarke tells the story of growing up with her famous father, her art historian mother Helen, and her little sister Lucia. Much has been written about John Clarke, but this is the insider's view-of his childhood, his relationship with his parents, his decision to leave New Zealand and live in Australia, and the choices he and Helen made to create a family life that is right out of the box.Would that be funny? is a story about the almost imperceptible things that make a family what it is, from long-told folklore, in-jokes, and archetypes, to calamities like world wars, deep-seated traumas, and sudden loss.Lorin Clarke, author of the celebrated podcast The Fitzroy Diaries brings to life her idyllic, hilarious and deeply nerdy childhood, and in doing so reveals not only the private man behind satirist John Clarke but the sense of love and security that comes from being able to laugh at yourself.PRAISE-'This beautiful memoir honours love, grief, and riotous fun. An utter joy to read.' Kaz Cooke'Marvellous stuff...a memoir to be grateful for.' Conversation'Builds a kaleidoscopic picture of her childhood and her father...Full of tender and wacky anecdotes.' Age'Luminous... dances on the tightrope of tone that memoir demands, and succeeds with vim and lucidity. The Clarkes' humour is polished to a fine edge, but it welcomes anyone who wants to laugh with those who dream of a juster and kinder world.' Inside Story
Dear Village
Yoko
$49.99
‘Absorbing' Telegraph ‘Gentle, empathetic, committed to righting undeniable wrongs’ Sunday Times, Book of the Week 'Illuminating and affectionate… an intimate and perceptive portrait' Publishers WeeklyAn intimate and revelatory biography of Yoko Ono from bestselling author of Beautiful Boy David Sheff met Yoko Ono and John Lennon in 1980 when conducting an in-depth interview with them just months before John’s murder. In the aftermath, Sheff and Yoko became close friends as she rebuilt her life, survived threats and continued creating groundbreaking art and music. Drawing from their decades-long friendship and interviews with Yoko, her family, close friends and collaborators, Sheff shares the story of one of the most unlikely and remarkable lives ever lived. Yoko spans from her birth to wealthy parents in pre-war Tokyo and her harrowing experience as a child during WW2 to her arrival in the avant-garde art scenes of London, Tokyo and New York. We see how she coped under the most intense, relentless and cynical microscope as she was falsely vilified for the most heinous cultural crime imaginable: breaking up the greatest rock-and-roll band in history. So often remembered only for her impact on The Beatles, Yoko has been caricatured as an opportunistic seductress or manipulative impostor. Yoko delves into her life as an artist, musician, feminist and activist, reframing her incredible achievements independent of Lennon. Yoko is a harrowing, moving, propulsive and vastly entertaining biography of a woman whose story has never been accurately told. It highlights Ono’s incredible talent and acknowledges her as a true artistic icon.
Dear Village
You Went To Emergency For What?
$36.99
You Went To Emergency For What? Tim Booth, a former motoring journalist for Top Gear Australia, transitioned from writing about cars to driving ambulances, swapping flashy sports cars for lights and sirens. Now a seasoned intensive care paramedic, Tim spent six gruelling years in south-west Sydney, tending to everything from high-stakes traumas to the many ridiculous callouts that define emergency medicine. His first book, You Called an Ambulance for What?, exposed the chaotic, often ludicrous world of paramedicine he found there. Despite the long shifts and countless WTF moments, Tim still works as an ambo, now serving the slower-paced north coast of NSW - when he's not penning tales that barely stop short of career suicide.
Dear Village
Your Own Kind Of Girl
$24.99
ARIA Award-winning singer and actress Clare Bowditch confronts her inner critic in this no-holds-barred memoir.
