Civilisation
Page 27
The Dominion Post: Best Non-Fiction of 2007
Prize-winning journalist Steve Braunias is standing on the balcony of an inner-city apartment on a sultry summer evening when a black-backed gull flies so close he is instantaneously bowled over with happiness. ‘I thought: Birds, everywhere. I want to know more about them.’ This highly engaging book is the result – a personal journey into an amazing world. It’s also a New Zealand history, a geographical wandering, and an affectionate look at the tribe of people ensnared, captivated and entranced by birds.
‘Braunias has touchingly brought love and bird-watching together in a book that stalks sewage ponds and grey warblers with curiosity and affection, and ends with contentment, bliss and a baby born. A lovely book’
New Zealand Listener: Best Books of 2007
‘A small and perfectly formed jewel’
The Sunday Star-Times
‘Awa Press plus Braunias plus birds makes for a tantalising literary marriage’
New Zealand Life & Leisure
Smoking in Antarctica
‘This comedic book is the fourth by Kiwi writer and columnist Steve Braunias – and it’s without a doubt his best. … Cheeky, engaging and downright funny’
New Idea
Whether gently but firmly lambasting airhead politicians, unrepentant murderers, apostrophe vigilantes, literary poseurs, or the purveyors of awful food, Steve Braunias shows his exceptional mastery of the art of column writing. But this winner of over 20 writing awards is also a passionate New Zealander, who has become famous for his tender evocations of the country’s heart-tugging landscapes, chequered history, and spirited population.
‘Typically quirky, honest and a pleasure to read. …There is not much writing like Braunias’s in New Zealand. Smoking in Antarctica is a wonderful collection to keep around – in the car for brief moments while waiting, in the beach bag to dip into between swims. Or by the bed, on top of Braunias’s other books, all of which have proved as timeless as this one will’
Nelson Mail
‘This book works on many levels. It’s funny, personal, and often deeply evocative – just a few reasons why it will endure
Kiwiboomers
‘By the funniest and most thoughtful columnist in New Zealand’
Greymouth Evening Start
Fish of the Week
‘If you are ever feeling blue, read one of these delicious essays. The sun will soon shine again … Every one is a gem’
Graham Beattie, Beattie’s Book Blog
Steve Braunias’s satirical and closely observed writings have driven readers to drink, God, lawyers, and sometimes to the shops to shower him with gifts. In this lascivious selection he addresses the state of New Zealand steak, the beauty of mangroves, the lunacy of film festivals, the attractions of small towns (‘There is no statistic that says a village can accommodate only one village idiot’), the charms of Cambridge University and the strange habits of the English, and more – as well as his own intimate, seesawing, surprisingly vulnerable life as a writer and lovestruck father.
‘Diverse, whimsical, clever … absolutely recommended’
Sonja de Friez, Radio New Zealand Nine to Noon
‘Braunias has intelligently wormed his way into my heart, stirred me with his gentle eloquence, bowled me with his wit … damn funny and insightful’
Matt Rilkoff, Taranaki Daily News
‘A brilliant and eccentric collection’
Philip Matthews, Your Weekend
Available from all good bookstores and online at www.awapress.com
Also by Steve Braunias
Fool’s Paradise
How to Watch a Bird
Roosters I Have Known
Fish of the Week
Smoking in Antarctica
First ebook edition published in 2012 by Awa Press, Level Three, 11 Vivian Street, Wellington 6011, New Zealand.
ebook formats
epub 978-1-877551-78-9
mobi 978-1-877551-79-6
Copyright © Steve Braunias 2012
The right of Steve Braunias to be identified as the author of this work in terms of Section 96 of the Copyright Act 1994 is hereby asserted.
Copyright in this book is held by the author. You have been granted the right to read this ebook on screen but no part may be copied, transmitted, reproduced, downloaded or stored or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system in any form and by any means now known or subsequently invented without the written consent of Awa Press Limited, acting as the author’s authorised agent.
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand
Cover photograph by Sandi McDonald, Photonewzealand
Cover design by Keely O’Shannessy
Written with the assistance of a Copyright Licensing New Zealand Writers’ Award.
www.awapress.com
About the author
Steve Braunias has won over 20 journalism awards, the Montana Book Award, fellowships to Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship. He is a frequent speaker at writers’ and readers’ festivals, editor-in-residence at Wintec School of Media Arts, Hamilton, and writer for many primetime TV series. He was a regular panellist on TVNZ7’s The Good Word.