Reviews

In Whom We Trust, John Clanchy:

“That Clanchy can make such subject matter both engrossing and deeply moving is down to his writing and his understanding of humanity. In Whom We Trust is a powerful and wonderful read.” Whispering Gums

“There is a quiet discipline to this art that resists the potentially sensational nature of its subject.” Australian Book Review

“If the content in this deeply moral, and quietly devastating, period drama feels utterly topical, the atmosphere, dialogue and characters are all imagined with a flair for historical authenticity.” Pick of The Week, Sydney Morning Herald

Call Me, Julian Davies:

‘Call Me is that rare thing: a novel of young adulthood told with great compassion, humour and psychological acuity—and without a skerrick of condescension or sentimentality.’ John Clanchy

‘It’s so refreshing this book isn’t being marketed as YA fiction because the adolescent voices it creates are so charming and drolly realised and true-to-life they’ll appeal to a much broader readership. …an immersive and amusing read, thanks largely to the feat of literary ventriloquism (Davies) pulls off.’ The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age.

‘Call Me is not only an engrossing story about the psychic growing-up of its protagonists, but one that also offers provocative commentary on both humanity in general and modern society in particular. …Davies pulls it off, resulting in a book that’s both intelligent and fun to read.’ Whispering Gums.

Habits of Silence, Stephanie Buckle:

‘…imbued with a deep sense of knowingness… Buckle’s insights into human relationships make you sit up and pay attention.’ Whispering Gums

‘…put together with… assuredness and (a) piercing eye… Buckle’s tone, bending through various characters and their narratives, is sharply contemporary…’ Verity La

‘Not only is it a stylish book, I have enjoyed each story immensely—a ‘best read’ of 2017! I kept thinking the next story can’t be as gripping and convincing and superb as the last one—and it was.’ Kevin Brophy

A Chink in a Daisy-Chain, Phil Day:

‘In the spirit of the absurdist and playful logic that characterises the Alice books, A Chink in a Daisy-Chain takes us into the rabbit warren of Day’s mind as he free associates, one thought leading to another…’ Sydney Morning Herald

‘If you know your Alice, you’ll love it. And if you don’t, well, you really should!’ ANZ LitLovers

‘…a fun, mind-bending book.’ Whispering Gums

Who Said What, Exactly, Hartmann Wallis:

“…a glorious romp or rant, ranging across history, the minutiae of suburbia, and an acerbic view of the literary and artistic world. The content is enlivening, but the form of the book is an equal part of the pleasure offered. The text is presented in bold, large print, with deliriously smudgy and slapdash illustrations by Phil Day. It is part unhinged journal, part comic, as if Les Murray had decided to write a graphic novel…” The Australian

‘There is joy in wordplay; there are strange segues; there’s dialogue, characters, and narratives; there are allusions to history, religion, art; there’s pathos, even. These poems keep you on your toes, but they also make you laugh…’ Whispering Gums

Backlash, Bidda Jones and Julian Davies:

“You might not imagine that a book about live cattle exports could be absorbing, but this well-written account… is just that.” The Sydney Moring Herald, The Age, The Canberra Times

“Backlash is a fascinating… important book.” PS Cottier, Verity La

“This is a passionate and disturbing account that should be read by those on both sides of this debate.” Michelle Grattan

“A terrific read… A gripping and at times disturbing tale from inside one of the most explosive political stories of recent times.” Michael Brissenden

“Backlash lucidly reveals the inside story of the live export drama of 2011 and leaves the reader with a real understanding of the issue and the fiercely competing interests of that extraordinary time.” Sarah Ferguson

“A compelling, insightful analysis of an issue that is a litmus test for who we are as a people.” Andrew Wilkie MP

“This important book vividly brings to life the events of 2011 and in the process reminds us all of the vital role of people power in forcing government to act to protect animals.” Lyn White

Crow Mellow, Julian Davies:

“Crow Mellow is a sophisticated hybrid, a marriage of words and visual images… Davies plus Day is a new creature entirely.” Sydney Morning Herald, The Age

“Davies and Day have ‘succeeded with Crow Mellow in achieving that difficult double of producing something different that is also accessible and fun to read.” Whispering Gums

“… Crow Mellow is the kind of book that will draw each reader in differently. Its genius is that whatever… most excites or amuses, no matter how fleetingly it might seem, it does not occur in isolation. The book works as a novel of ideas not because each idea is succinctly explored, but rather because each forms part of a larger conversation… The drawings are nearly as crucial as the words on the page… they provide a visceral counterpoint to the tightly written prose.” Newtown Review of Books

“Crow Mellow is a most unusual book, not like any other that I’ve read.” ANZLitLovers

“This tribute, cum spin off, cum riff, cum admirably original novel, is actually a consistently intelligent, sometimes intriguing tale…” and “has…life, grace, and wit as well a few grotesques.” The Canberra Times

“…we need more books like Crow Mellow – ambitious, unruly and utterly strange.” Australian Book Review

Six, John Clanchy:

“…moments of humour form a perfect counterbalance to the more serious content found in these six long stories… Expertly told, without a false note, they linger in the mind.” Australian Book Review

“The latest collection of long stories or – as he calls them – “tales” by John Clanchy is Six, published by the estimable independent firm of Finlay Lloyd. This is literally a slim volume but that description gives no indication of the complex layers of suggestion within each story. Clanchy is another of that not well-enough celebrated band of skilled practitioners of fiction in this country; one who repays rereading… In his psychological acuity, stylistic variety and an unpretentious and justified confidence in his story-telling gifts, Clanchy has produced one of the best recent collections of short fiction.” Peter Pierce Canberra Times, Brisbane Times

“This is a powerful, highly skilled and emotionally intricate collection.” Nigel Featerstone, The Canberra Times

“I encourage people to invest in a copy of Six and be entertained by an accomplished Australian author.” Mairi Neil, ANZ LitLovers

The Wild Goose, Mori Ogai:

“There has been no period in the history of modern Japanese society so dramatic and so remarkably tumultuous and fluid as the Meiji Era (1868-1912), and no single work of fiction more revelatory in its depiction of that period than Ogai Mori’s ‘The Wild Goose’. Now we have, in Meredith McKinney’s translation of this iconic novel, a new vein into the heart of that age. Not only that: This translation, in its carefully toned and delightfully measured English prose, brings out Mori’s brilliance as a superb craftsman of style. It is no wonder that his prose was considered, in his day and after, to have marked the epitome of style in modern Japanese.” Roger Pulvers, The Japan Times

“Ogai is a master writer who has found his perfect mistress of a translator in Meredith McKinney.” Barry Hill, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald

“Finlay Lloyd make beautiful books, and The Wild Goose is no exception.” Lisa Hill, ANZ LitLovers

Finlay Lloyd Smalls:

“This initiative is one of the most exciting things going right now… all presented as beautiful single volumes that will restore your faith in the physical manifestation of the written word.” Bait for Bookworms, Bram Presser

Dark Days of Matty Lang – Wayne Strudwick

“Wayne Strudwick plunges the reader into his protagonist’s life of memory loss and painkillers. Matty wakes to the sound of smashing glass determined to fill in the lost moments in time prior to the events that have caused him so much anguish. The Dark Days of Matty Lang is a tale of teen love, loss, misguided loyalties and small-town tragedy.” Verity La

“A taut, melancholic narrative that builds to a truly heartbreaking crescendo. The Dark Days of Matty Lang is a mini-marvel.” Bait for Bookworms, Bram Presser

Nothing Ventured – Natalia Zajaz

“…a series of graphic stories, a small anthology that deals with subjects like, housemates, convenience food, and the mundane aspects of life. It is full of quirky humour… and the loose form of the drawings perfectly compliments the subject matter. Guaranteed to put a smile on your face.” Verity La

“…wickedly funny short graphic stories.” Bait for Bookworms, Bram Presser

Bruno Kramzer – A. S. Patrick

“The character of the title in A.S. Patrić’s Bruno Kramzer is a ‘Professional Rogue’ who is paid to bring down individuals a peg or two. This is often in the form of humiliating pranks and sometimes-sinister acts of violence that, as the first few pages attest, can go horribly wrong. …There is an ambiguity surrounding the setting of Bruno’s world… linked to Kafka’s The Trial, which… results in Bruno Kramzer having a fable-like quality.” Verity La

“(a) deliciously nasty yet warm-hearted tale of a professional rogue in crisis. You’ll smile when the realisation hits; Patricis (is) to Kafka what Stoppard was to Shakespeare.” Bait for Bookworms, Bram Presser

NY – Mandy Ord

“Ord’s comics are instantly recognizable by their heavy ink-swathed style and one-eyed Mandy character. Her work is largely autobiographical and in NY she takes a stroll through Manhattan, full of doubts and is conscious of her vulnerability, but soon comes to realise the Big Apple, for all its promise, has its own.” Verity La

“A very cool microfiction set to pictures about a pop culture obsessed, awkwardly paranoid graphic novelist finding her feet in the big apple” Bait for Bookworms, Bram Presser

Anxiety Soup – Mandy Ord

“…left a lasting impression on this reviewer. Powerful stuff. Anxiety Soup is poetry that is contemporary in its themes, accessible, and enjoyable.” Verity La

“Anxiety Soup by Tara Mokhtari (has) poems about cats, awkward post-youth and even more awkward short romances… (that) hit the mark.” Bait for Bookworms, Bram Presser

Fragments of the Hole – Paul McDermott

“McDermott, a comedian who lives by his words, is sure in his language, which is clear and unforced. The pencil drawings are delightful. You can feel the twinkle in his eye – the fun he is having – as you read the stories and look at the pictures. …this is a book that is best experienced rather than described or analysed. It’s a cheekily clever but also delightfully charming ‘little book’”. Whispering Gums

Fair Game – Carmel Bird

“I love reading this sort of writing – it’s a challenge, a puzzle. I commend it to you – for the story and for the clever, cheeky writing.” Whispering Gums

Growing Up Cafe – Phillip Stamatellis

“…an enjoyable read… the nostalgia factor (the memories of Greek and Italian cafes or milkbars…) and the social history (the documenting of such cafes and the lives that surrounder them). Stamatellis captures all this nicely, from a young insider’s perspective.” Whispering Gums

Don’t Leave Home – Timothy Morrell

“Having a severed cobra’s head dropped in my wine glass and sitting down to an expensive main course of cobra is one of those traveller’s experiences I’d rather someone else did for me. That someone else is Timothy Morrell, who seems to specialise in cutting-edge travel. Most of us don’t immediately think Moldova when contemplating our holidays. Morrell survived it, albeit with a broken ankle and keeping the company of unemployed alcoholics in a “bleak little concrete tavern”. Morrell has a light, ironic style – and a talent for irony is definitely a necessity when visiting some of the places he has.”  Sydney Morning Herald

Trace – Cassandra Atherton

“Cassandra Atherton’s… thematically and stylistically linked prose poems (are) full of startling imagery and lush sensuality. The dense, intense prose is often  funny, and incorporates all kinds of cultural allusions. These are mostly about writers: Shakespeare and Nabokov feature heavily, and there are also moments with Sylvia Plath,  William Carlos Williams and a host of others, milling around promiscuously in Atherton’s prose with Veronica Lake, Gai and Robbie Waterhouse, and White Wings cake mix. It’s fun and clever, and some of it is lovely.” Sydney Morning Herald

The Seaglass Spiral, Alan Gould:

“With The Seaglass Spiral, Alan Gould confirms himself once more as among Australia’s finest and most original living authors (as a poet, as well as in prose). The neglect with which he has been treated may be benign, but it is unforgivable.” Peter Pierce The Age

“This is a book of patterns, but patterns without repetition. So it’s perfectly appropriate that it should be sui generis, a lightly fictionalised story of two families as they move towards personal and genetic entwining, neither a novel nor a memoir, not even that ghastly thing from the Creative Writing courses: creative non-fiction.” Philip Mead

“…if Sebright HAD drowned, he would have survived because he is so alive in these pages. So much honesty, humour, ruefulness, and recovered time brought to the fore seemingly without strain. Very, very good writing always getting on to the next phase interestingly, stacking the levels of the seaglass spiral.” Roger McDonald

“Gould takes his own and his wife’s family histories and uses his gifts as a poet and storyteller to make them intriguing… a slow, dense read but very beautiful.” Kerryn Goldsworthy, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald

“This is an absolutely beautiful book, in every way. The language is gorgeous, acute, observant; the feeling is tender, humorous, earthy and has an unusual elegance all its own. The book as object too is just gorgeous… published by a small press who really care about books.” Sophie Masson, Goodreads

“The Seaglass Spiral has, at once, the scholarly diligence of biography and the imaginative range associated with fiction. There is the sense of the narritive reflecting back and forth between life writing and the fictive, collecting the two in an innovative alignment of their particles.”
Felicity Plunkett, The Australian

Lost Art, two essays on cultural dysfunction:

“Lost Art is an absorbing and lyrical journey through the contemporary art world. Combining a sensibility that is both highly critical and deeply personal, … [it has] complexity and colour to shake off the laziness that is all too prevalent in contemporary art criticism. Both Day and Davies dance and side-step, placing famous and historical cultural figures alongside Hugo Ball’s Dada poems, Peter Cook jokes, and even betting equations for the Melbourne Cup. Lost Art is both welcomingly critical and magnetically alive. I applaud its passion and romance of expression” Scott McCulloch, Australian Book Review

“These two essays take up where many dinner-party conversations leave off in their probing of why we value one work of art over another…a moving case for scepticism about evaluative hierarchies.” Fiona Capp, Sydney Morning Herald

Something in Common, a novella by James Grieve:

“Grieve has taught English to the French and French to the English and these experiences are the basis of this very witty novella.” Sydney Morning Herald

“Grieve finds just the descriptive touches to create the right atmosphere for the times…” Stephen Saunders, The Canberra Times

The Finlay Lloyd Book about Animals:

“The small but perfectly formed publishing house Finlay Lloyd has released The Finlay Lloyd Book about Animals, a selection of essays that explores everything from the minds of bees, to the ethics of eating tuna and fishing, to hunting and farming for food, to the joy of finally meeting the right cat.” Sophie Cunningham, The Age.

Rooftops, a graphic novel by Mandy Ord:

“Rooftops’s subtle strength resides in what is gleaned rather than revealed; what is implied rather than stated; in valuing the poetic as much as the dramatic impulse. The book is at once a vividly crafted ode to the author’s adopted city (Melbourne) and a disarmingly candid exploration of her cyclopean comic self’s passions and insecurities.” Cefn Ridout, Art Monthly

“It wouldn’t surprise me if Rooftops became a cult hit.” The Age

“…an assured and assuredly beautiful graphic novel.” Comics Lifestyle

“…Ord particularly excels with some perfectly-paced cinematic moments… it’s inspiring stuff.” Two Thousand

“…her inky brush lingers on wonderful architectural details…Mandy’s work jumps off the page.” Nikki Greenberg

“…Finlay Lloyd have done a wonderful job of the editing, printing and publishing of the book… all (making) for a wonderful object.” Bernard Caleo

The Science Minister & The Sea Cow:

“Every piece in this book offers something of interest” The Age

“This is a book about the nature of choice and, as such, it is hugely entertaining.” Sydney Morning Herald

When Books Die:

“Readers will encounter 15 fascinating and often provocative essays inspired by a desire to read and a love of books.” Colin Steele, The Canberra Times

“The 15 contributors are all long-time readers and variously include authors, publishers, editors and printers. Some are well known, others less so, but then this is part of the manifesto of the Finlay Lloyd Press to offer something more daring or intimate to an otherwise marketing driven book industry.” Karen Lamb, Weekend Australian

“…a quirk, finely produced homage to books and writing.” Australian Book Review

“This is a charming and interesting collection.” Sydney Morning Herald