image of person or book cover 6795375303583900045.jpg
This image has been sourced from Booktopia
Is part of Helen Garner : Diaries Helen Garner , 2019 series - author diary (number 3 in series)
Issue Details: First known date: 2021... 2021 How to End a Story : Diaries 1995–1998
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'The third instalment of diaries from the inimitable Helen Garner covers four eventful years in the life of one of Australia's most treasured writers.

'Helen Garner's third volume of diaries is an account of a woman fighting to hold on to a marriage that is disintegrating around her.

'Living with a great writer who is consumed by his work, and trying to find a place for her own spirit to thrive, she rails against the confines while desperate to find the truth in their relationship-and the truth of her own self.

'This is a harrowing story, a portrait of the messy, painful, dark side of love lost, of betrayal and sadness and the sheer force of a woman's anger. But it is also a story of resilience and strength, strewn with sharp insight, moments of joy and hope, the immutable ties of motherhood and the regenerative power of a room of one's own.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Chosen as one of the  Conversation's best Australian books of the 21st century.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Text Publishing , 2021 .
      image of person or book cover 6795375303583900045.jpg
      This image has been sourced from Booktopia
      Extent: 304p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 2nd November 2021
      ISBN: 9781922458179

Other Formats

Works about this Work

Tumultuous Family Stories, Two Ways Joumana Khatib , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: The New York Times , 9 September 2023;

— Review of How to End a Story : Diaries 1995–1998 Helen Garner , 2021 single work diary
A One-Sided Story Peter Hayes , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Quadrant , October vol. 66 no. 10 2022; (p. 93-96)

— Review of How to End a Story : Diaries 1995–1998 Helen Garner , 2021 single work diary
'The third volume of Helen Garner’s diaries, How to End a Story: Diaries Volume III 1995–1998, said to be the last in the series, purports to chroni-cle the breakdown of Garner’s third marriage. In Australia we have something called no-fault divorce; here Garner is serving up instead a score-settling hatchet job on an ex that is without precedent in Australian letters.' (Introduction)
Friday Essay: ‘With Men I Feel like a Very Sharp, Glittering Blade’ – When 5 Liberated Women Spoke the Truth Kath Kenny , 2022 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 30 September 2022;

'There’s a climactic scene in Helen Garner’s third and latest diary where she describes tipping a box of her then husband’s cigars into a pot of soup, picking up a pair of scissors, slashing a straw hat that belongs to his lover and stuffing the pieces in his “ugly black suede shoes.”' (Introduction)

Myth–Archetype–Story–F[r]iction : Helen Garner’s How to End a Story Moya Costello , 2022 single work essay
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , June 2022;

'The third volume of Helen Garner’s diaries, How To End a Story, is a reminder of how affecting books, or art and culture more widely, are. This is art, as Elizabeth Grosz writes via Gilles Deleuze, as an ‘enhancement or intensification of bodies’, an ‘elaboration of sensations.’'(Introduction) 

y separately published work icon Lisa Gorton on Helen Garner's Third Volume of Diaries Lisa Gorton , Peter Rose (presenter), 2022 23749093 2022 single work podcast

'‘I would like to write about dominance, revulsion, separation, the horrible struggles between people who love each other,’ wrote Helen Garner, foreshadowing How to End a Story, the final instalment of her published diaries, following Yellow Notebook (2019) and One Day I’ll Remember This (2020). While the first two volumes spanned eight years apiece, How to End a Story spans only three. Starting in 1995, shortly after the release of Garner’s The First Stone, it details the dissolution of her marriage to another writer, V. As Lisa Gorton notes, this volume differs from its precursors both in tone and focus: ‘This one is as compelling as a detective story. This one is edited with the sense of an ending.’ (Production summary)

(Review) Helen Garner How to End a Story : Diaries 1995-1998 Geordie Williamson , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 30 October - 5 November 2021;

— Review of How to End a Story : Diaries 1995–1998 Helen Garner , 2021 single work diary

'Helen Garner’s third and final volume of published diaries covers three years, from 1995 to 1998, during which her marriage to author Murray Bail finally broke down. As a diary – one, moreover, written by an author with an avid and democratic eye for telling detail – it is obedient to the unruliness of the form. This is a book assembled from perceptual flotsam and daily happenstance – gossip and anecdote, dreams and the weather, overheard dialogue and stray literary quotation.' (Introduction)

The Best New Books to Read in November As Selected by Avid Readers and Critics Kate Evans , Claire Nichols , Sarah L'Estrange , Declan Fry , Khalid Warsame , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , November 2021;

— Review of Devotion Hannah Kent , 2021 single work novel ; How to End a Story : Diaries 1995–1998 Helen Garner , 2021 single work diary ; The Last Woman in the World Inga Simpson , 2021 single work novel
'Welcome to ABC Arts' monthly book column. Each month, we'll present a shortlist of new releases read and recommended by The Bookshelf's Kate Evans and The Book Show's Claire Nichols and Sarah L'Estrange — alongside freelance writers and book reviewers. This month, we're thrilled to present recommendations from Declan Fry and Khalid Warsame.'
Books Roundup : Permafrost, Scary Monsters, Another Day in the Colony, How to End a Story Ellen Cregan , Mindy Gill , Monique Grbec , Fiona Murphy , 2021 single work review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , November 2021;

— Review of Permafrost S. J. Norman , 2021 selected work short story ; Scary Monsters Michelle De Kretser , 2021 single work novel ; Another Day in the Colony Chelsea Watego , 2021 selected work essay ; How to End a Story : Diaries 1995–1998 Helen Garner , 2021 single work diary
The Love Problem : Helen Garner and the Fissures between Fact and Fiction Lisa Gorton , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January–February no. 439 2022; (p. 8, 10-11)

— Review of How to End a Story : Diaries 1995–1998 Helen Garner , 2021 single work diary
'The first two volumes of Helen Garner’s diaries – Yellow Notebook (2019) and One Day I’ll Remember This (2020) – cover eight years apiece. This one covers three. It is an intense, even claustrophobic story of the breakup of a marriage – a story told in the incidental, fragmentary form of a diary.'  (Introduction)
A One-Sided Story Peter Hayes , 2022 single work review
— Appears in: Quadrant , October vol. 66 no. 10 2022; (p. 93-96)

— Review of How to End a Story : Diaries 1995–1998 Helen Garner , 2021 single work diary
'The third volume of Helen Garner’s diaries, How to End a Story: Diaries Volume III 1995–1998, said to be the last in the series, purports to chroni-cle the breakdown of Garner’s third marriage. In Australia we have something called no-fault divorce; here Garner is serving up instead a score-settling hatchet job on an ex that is without precedent in Australian letters.' (Introduction)
Helen Garner : I Always Liked My Diary Better Than Anything Else I Wrote Helen Garner , 2021 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 10 November 2021;

'Garner has spent thousands of hours on her diary, writing every morning and night. It’s been useful for her other books – and it’s taught her she’s never alone'

y separately published work icon Live Recording : Helen Garner in Conversation Charlotte Wood (interviewer), 2021 23567510 2021 single work interview

'A conversation on between friends Helen Garner and Charlotte Wood to celebrate the release of Garner's latest volume of diaries, How to End a Story.' 

y separately published work icon Lisa Gorton on Helen Garner's Third Volume of Diaries Lisa Gorton , Peter Rose (presenter), 2022 23749093 2022 single work podcast

'‘I would like to write about dominance, revulsion, separation, the horrible struggles between people who love each other,’ wrote Helen Garner, foreshadowing How to End a Story, the final instalment of her published diaries, following Yellow Notebook (2019) and One Day I’ll Remember This (2020). While the first two volumes spanned eight years apiece, How to End a Story spans only three. Starting in 1995, shortly after the release of Garner’s The First Stone, it details the dissolution of her marriage to another writer, V. As Lisa Gorton notes, this volume differs from its precursors both in tone and focus: ‘This one is as compelling as a detective story. This one is edited with the sense of an ending.’ (Production summary)

Myth–Archetype–Story–F[r]iction : Helen Garner’s How to End a Story Moya Costello , 2022 single work essay
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , June 2022;

'The third volume of Helen Garner’s diaries, How To End a Story, is a reminder of how affecting books, or art and culture more widely, are. This is art, as Elizabeth Grosz writes via Gilles Deleuze, as an ‘enhancement or intensification of bodies’, an ‘elaboration of sensations.’'(Introduction) 

Friday Essay: ‘With Men I Feel like a Very Sharp, Glittering Blade’ – When 5 Liberated Women Spoke the Truth Kath Kenny , 2022 single work column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 30 September 2022;

'There’s a climactic scene in Helen Garner’s third and latest diary where she describes tipping a box of her then husband’s cigars into a pot of soup, picking up a pair of scissors, slashing a straw hat that belongs to his lover and stuffing the pieces in his “ugly black suede shoes.”' (Introduction)

Last amended 1 Oct 2024 14:40:37
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