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y separately published work icon A Mother's Disgrace single work   autobiography  
Issue Details: First known date: 1994... 1994 A Mother's Disgrace
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'The frank and intimate journey of self-discovery by author, critic and arts commentator Robert Dessaix. Confronting, revealing and candid, the book traces his life from adoption towards the end of World War II, to a most unusual childhood on Sydney's North Shore, to his fascination with Russia and his time spent studying in Cold War Moscow, and to his years spent criss-crossing the globe from Kashmir to Peru on various study trips. But a life that might have been exciting to others, to Robert was empty at its core. Constantly haunting him was the realisation that there was a "shaft of silence" running through his being - the question of who his natural mother was and what his origins were. A story of coming to terms with a new identity.' (Publication summary)

Reading Australia

Reading Australia

This work has Reading Australia teaching resources.

Unit Suitable For

AC: Senior Secondary (Literature Unit 3)

Themes

adoption, childhood, family, fantasy, human rights, identity, injustice, marriage, motherhood, religion, sexuality

General Capabilities

Critical and creative thinking, Ethical understanding, Information and communication technology, Intercultural understanding, Literacy, Personal and social

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Pymble, Turramurra - Pymble - St Ives area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Angus and Robertson , 1994 .
      image of person or book cover 8010972588465952958.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 195 p. [16]p. of platesp.
      Description: illus., ports.
      ISBN: 0207179344
    • Pymble, Turramurra - Pymble - St Ives area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Angus and Robertson , 1995 .
      image of person or book cover 1511325727342147786.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 195p.
      Description: illus., facsim., ports.
      ISBN: 0207189498
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Brio Books , 2017 .
      image of person or book cover 6400221289916669312.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 224p.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published July 2017.

      ISBN: 9781925589030, 9781925589023
Alternative title: Une Mere et Sa Honte
Language: French
    • Paris,
      c
      France,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Le Reflet ,
      1999 .
      image of person or book cover 8221142142620627984.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 243p.
      ISBN: 2912162092

Other Formats

  • Also braille and sound recording.

Works about this Work

"One of Us” : Orphaned Selves and Legitimacy in Australian Autobiography Jack Bowers , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Antipodes , December vol. 29 no. 2 2015; (p. 393-405)
Jack Bowers investigates Australian autobiographies. He examines 'orphaned' selves in which the autobiographer is both orphaned in the sense of not knowing one or both birth parents, and orphaned in the sense of being estranged from a fully formed and completed self.' (393)
Mothering the Self : A Study of Robert Dessaix's A Mother's Disgrace V. Bharathi Harishankar , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: IJAS , no. 6 2013; (p. 28-36)
V. Bharathi Harishanker looks at how Dessaix interweaves personal and social narratives in A Mother's Disgrace.
[Essay] : A Mother’s Disgrace Kerryn Goldsworthy , 2013 single work essay
— Appears in: Reading Australia 2013-;

'On the day that Robert Dessaix first came face to face with his birth mother, he was already in his mid-forties. Adopted as a newborn baby in 1944 by a couple who had loved and cared for him through his childhood and adolescence, he had grown up in Sydney, had invented his own imaginary land with its own language, had been married for twelve years, divorced, negotiated a reorientation of his sexuality, and eventually met and made a life with his partner Peter. He was a seasoned, experienced traveller and a speaker of several languages. He had made his way through two successful careers, first as an academic scholar, teacher, and translator of Russian literature, and then as a well-known broadcaster on the ABC’s flagship literary program ‘Books and Writing’, to which, in the days before podcasts and digital radio, thousands of thoughtful people all over the country would listen every Sunday night.' (Introduction)

Beauty Robert Dessaix , 2012 single work essay
— Appears in: As I Was Saying 2012; (p. 116-137)
As Robert was Saying Gail Bell , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Monthly , March no. 76 2012; (p. 46-49)
Authority and Grace John Hanrahan , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 26 February 1994; (p. 9)

— Review of A Mother's Disgrace Robert Dessaix , 1994 single work autobiography
What Happened and How Robert Saw It Judith Armstrong , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 26 February 1994; (p. 11A)

— Review of A Mother's Disgrace Robert Dessaix , 1994 single work autobiography
Recognise Yourself in Me Elaine Lindsay , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February-March no. 158 1994; (p. 21-22)

— Review of A Mother's Disgrace Robert Dessaix , 1994 single work autobiography ; Aphrodite and the Others Gillian Bouras , 1994 single work biography
The Deep, Troubled Legacy We Bequeath Sara Dowse , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 8 March 1994; (p. 6)

— Review of A Mother's Disgrace Robert Dessaix , 1994 single work autobiography
Instantly Seduced Cath Kenneally , 1994 single work review
— Appears in: The Adelaide Review , Festival no. 124 1994; (p. 39-40)

— Review of A Mother's Disgrace Robert Dessaix , 1994 single work autobiography
Robert Dessaix's Journey into French Ninette Boothroyd , Michelle Royer , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 63 no. 1 2003; (p. 95-101)
First Voice : Robert Dessaix Looks Back at the Writing of His First Book Robert Dessaix , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 7 January 2006; (p. 20)
As Robert was Saying Gail Bell , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Monthly , March no. 76 2012; (p. 46-49)
Beauty Robert Dessaix , 2012 single work essay
— Appears in: As I Was Saying 2012; (p. 116-137)
Discourse with Dessaix Makes for Dizziness Peter Davis , 1994 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 16 July 1994; (p. C2)
Last amended 19 Sep 2017 15:26:18
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