Cirrus@Austlit

'Stern, playful, encouraging, hard-working, tough or loving - no matter how we describe our own father, he leaves an indelible imprint. Claire Halliday spoke with a range of well-known Australians who shared their stories about the way their dads shape their lives. From memories of deep warmth and closeness to stories of difficulty and tragedy - everyones story is unique.' (Publication summary)

'Things My Mother Taught Me features stories of high profile mothers, and high profile people - from young actors, television personalities and older intellectuals to a famous chef, a fashion designer, a comedian, and many more - reflecting on their own relationship with their mothers. It is a book about all the stuff mothers know (or don't know) and how that knowledge and the ability to share it - for good and bad - helps to shape a person. Through funny and poignant interviews this book looks as at one of the most important relationships in everybody's lives and reveals much about the evolving nature of family in modern Australia. ' (Publication summary)

'Like sugar, sex is in everything, from Bratz dolls to internet porn. On your television, on your radio, along the side of the road; in your inbox, your handheld and your frontpage. It sells and - particularly if you're a parent - it terrifies. It has always excited and disgusted, but now it does both things simultaneously, all the time.

'Combining memoir and reportage, Claire Halliday considers the place of sex throughout Australian life: from lounging about at the beach, to the pervasive sexualisation of advertising and children, to the more minority pursuits of swinging and porn-films, as well as the rise of the abstinence movement. She explores the issues with unsparing candour testing them against her own life and her own feelings rather than abstract ideals. The result is inquiring, challenging and fascinating. Who, after all, doesn't like sex? Just . . . perhaps . . . not right now.' (From the publisher's website.)