Between the Lines by Jason Donovan

A quick rundown…The story (so far) of the life and times of my crush as a 7 year old- Jason Donovan, pop star and actor.

Strengths: It’s honest on multiple fronts – from his relationship with Kylie Minogue to drug use.

Weaknesses: I would have loved to read some more about the making of Ten Good Reasons – all I read was what was in Smash Hits and TV Hits!

Why I read it: I was a fan of his music as a youngster.

Pages: 336

Published: 2008

Publisher: Harper Collins

Rating: 8 out of 10

If you liked this, try: Kylie, Dannii and Jason were all linked in my mind as a youngster, so try Dannii Minogue’s My Story.

 

When I was about 7 or 8, Jason Donovan (along with Kylie Minogue) was all the rage in Australia. Despite being an avid Home and Away watcher, I tuned in to Neighbours to watch their characters, Scott and Charlene marry. I had the Jason: The Official Magazine. I even had his debut album, Ten Good Reasons on LP (that’s a big black CD that you can’t skip or shuffle, kids) and knew all the words to hits such as Too Many Broken Hearts, Nothing Can Divide Us and the duet with Kylie, Especially for You. I played Kylie and Jason games with my friends (I knew they were together!). So what happened?

I grew up. And so did Jason.

Reading this book as an adult was a bit of a trip down Memory Lane (see also my review of Dannii Minogue’s My Story) into all those things that had innocently passed me by in my youth. If 7 year old kids were madly keen on Jason even though they didn’t watch his show, he must have been pretty popular. And he was. Perhaps Jason was the Justin Beiber of my generation?

In this autobiography, Jason talks candidly about his rise to fame from average Aussie household to household name on what became a world-popular soap. How manufactured pop became a sort of symbol for the late 80s/early 90s (Kylie, Jason, Dannii, Craig McLachlan and Check 1-2, Jo Beth Taylor, the Blakeney twins, even Stefan Dennis had a turn so I’m told) and Stock Aitken Waterman became The Hit Factory. Jason knew though that 7 and 8 year olds grow up and discard the idols of their youth (me, I moved on to New Kids on the Block) and it appears that he wasn’t the squeaky clean surfer boy his image suggested. Jason was getting in deeper and deeper with drugs – first marijuana, then cocaine and other drugs.

A significant part of the book is Jason’s case with The Face – suing them for saying he was gay. (He’s not). It appeared that he attributed some of what went on – the fall from grace, the increasing drug use to the toll it took on him personally.

Fortunately, this story has a saving grace in the form of Jason’s partner, Ange and their two children. He describes their relationship as being the pivotal point for his becoming clean and return to acting (for example, in the Australian drama MDA).

There are some interesting titbits in this book – Kylie comes across as the sweetest girl out there and Jason turned down a role in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It would be interesting to think how things would be different (if at all) if he had taken that role!

The book is a very easy read, blunt and honest. It did contain one extra that my 7 year old self is rather proud of…

Yes, it’s signed ‘love Jason’. At last.

Dannii: My Story by Dannii Minogue

A quick rundown… The life and times of Dannii Minogue from Young Talent Time to her first child.

Strengths: This is just the thing for those of us who grew up in the Dannii/Kylie/Jason era.

Weaknesses: Perhaps not enough of the juicy stuff – Dannii keeps her dignity.

Why I read it: Another $5 pile.

Pages: 368

Published: 2010

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Setting: All over the world – but mainly Australia and England

Rating: 8 out of 10

If you liked this, try: Between the Lines by Jason Donovan

Like most Aussie kids growing up in the 80′s, we all knew Dannii and her big sister, Kylie. Kylie was Charlene on Neighbours and Dannii was on Young Talent Time and Home and Away. We all wanted to be one of them, singing into our hairbrushes. So naturally I was drawn to read Dannii’s biography when I was browsing a book sale to catch up with what she’s been doing while I was busy growing up.

This book starts with Dannii as a child and ends with the birth of her child Ethan (I read the hardcover version; a softcover version I saw yesterday has the additional tagline ‘fully updated’ on it). It covers her time with Young Talent Time and Home and Away, then moves on to her pop career (some of it, such as the initial trip to New York sounded downright dodgy!) and its rises and falls. I didn’t realise how much of a hit Dannii was on the dance scene. It also covers personal times, such as her marriage to Julian McMahon (again, I didn’t realise how young she was!) and its demise. Dannii is remarkably restrained when it comes to rumoured spats with Lady Sonia McMahon and later Sharon Osborne; it’s a credit to her that she handles them in a dignified manner. For Kylie fans, there’s not a great deal about her (it is Dannii’s book after all).

This was a very fun and easy read, a sort of adult extended version of the Dannii magazine I had as a child. Dannii talks about her friendships, personal trials (she’s had a few of them for someone so young) and achievements – again substantial. You are someone to be admired Dannii!

So if you were someone who grew up with Dannii on the screen and radio, I’d recommend this to you to reminisce. If you’re a newer fan, read this to find out where it all started.

The Man in the White Suit by Ben Collins

I purely read this book because I wanted to know more about The Stig and Top Gear. I didn’t really know anything about Ben Collins prior to this.

This book reads more like an autobiography of Ben Collins up to his departure from Top Gear (although it is VERY sketchy on the details and reasons why this happened). We learn about his childhood (interesting), younger days riding karts and various cars (interesting), army days (quite boring) and then we hit Top Gear days. This was by far and away the best part of the book for me. It was interesting to learn that Collins was actually being the Stig on the tube (public transport vs car vs bike vs boat), I would have thought someone else would do that. Riding with Tom Cruise, teaching a blind man to drive the Top Gear track and Richard Hammond’s crash (covered by the man himself in On the Edge), it’s all there. Ben Collins can cover how to drive very fast really, really well. The stories about Top
Gear were very entertaining and witty. But towards the end of the book, we suddenly hear about how he is tired about the extreme secrecy he must maintain in his role as The Stig, how he’s getting a bit tired of the whole thing and then…it’s over. Given that the BBC tried to put an injunction on the publication of this book, there must be more! Why does Jeremy Clarkson react so negatively when questioned about Collins as The Stig? Why does Collins himself seem so jealous when a decoy in the form of Michael Schumacher appears on the show? The ending, the leaving is tied up so quickly and perfectly in a big red bow you just know that it’s hiding a dirty big coffee stain underneath.

An interesting and light read, this would appeal to Top Gear fans (obviously) and boys interested in cars and racing. I’d also be interested in hearing about what Collins is doing now (surely being on Fifth Gear is incorrect?) but not enough to read another book.

Read it if: You love Top Gear or you like wearing a white suit and helmet – 24/7.

6.5 out of 10.

You Know Me by Chris Heath and Robbie Williams

I should really make my confession here and now: I really like Robbie Williams, so of course I was going to buy this book. I have read Feel (his autobiography released some years ago) and thoroughly enjoyed it. What’s not to like about a man who says things like ‘I want to learn how to play the Effexor’? (Like most medical jokes, that one is not even remotely funny).

You Know Me is predominantly a photographic book of the first twenty (yes, twenty!) years of Robbie’s career from Take That to solo to Take That again. It is divided into chapters with several pages of text, then photos and Robbie’s take on them. Robbie is still amusing as ever and Chris Heath has a talent in getting the reader into (what we think at least) the mind of the real Robbie. It’s an easy read, be wannabe Mrs Williams’s beware: there are multiple references to his ‘missus’, Ayda Field. (My take: as long as you’re happy Robbie).

The photos are fantastic – Robbie in Egypt with beard (completely unrecognisable), photos on tour (some good memories) and the text gives insight into what was going on.

This is for the fans, but it’s an enjoyable, light holiday read. The photos are spectacular (my camera wouldn’t have been able to do this justice) – the only bugbear for me was the cover picture (see below) with Robbie’s eyes following me around the room!

Read it if: you love Robbie.

8.5 out of 10.

The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do

 

(Image from Goodreads)

Australians probably know Anh Do as a comedian and/or the star of the movie Footy Legends. What they probably don’t know is how Anh got to be one of Australia’s truly funny blokes.

Anh and his family are from Vietnam and survived a harrowing boat journey (multiple raids by pirates, dehydration, loss of life) to get to Australia (via a refugee camp in Malaysia). Anh was only two at the time, but the story of the trip is edge-of-your-seat kind of stuff. When they finally made it to Australia, the Do family were so thankful for everything (they were given jeans- a sign of wealth in Vietnam) that when Anh’s little brother, Khoa, was mistaken for a girl and given a dress to wear, the family accepted it with pleasure. (From the photos, Khoa made a very cute little girl). It’s that thankfulness to the country that took them in that continues on as a feature of the story as well as the sense of family. Anh’s family often have extended family or friends come to stay with them as they get on their feet, despite the family working exceptionally hard on their sewing business. They were never too busy to help someone out, despite being poor themselves (Anh had to pretend he had lost or forgotten his schoolbooks- he simply couldn’t afford to buy them at all).

Anh’s story reminds us we need to be thankful for what he have- he is so kind, buying his mother a house or working to afford braces for his sister, who was ashamed about her smile. With the current media headlines about ‘boat people’, we need to remember that they have thoughts, feelings and can be a great asset to this country, like Anh and his family.

A great, funny, emotional memoir. Well done Anh.

9 out of 10.

Autobiography of a Geisha by Sayo Masuda

(Image from Goodreads)

As the title states, this is a true story of a Japanese geisha in the 1940s and 1950s. Beware though: it’s not the beautiful sweetness that you read or saw in Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. No, life as a geisha was not about that for Masuda-san.

Masuda-san was sold by her parents to act as a nursemaid (as a child- not much bigger than the children she was meant to look after) and then again by an uncle to a geisha house. She had little education and could barely read and write. There she and her ‘elder sisters’ gradually rose up the ranks to become geishas. They learned the dancing and the shamisen, but the main objective was money for sex. The girls were indentured to the geisha house, forced to collect ‘points’ to pay out their contract. There were pregnancies, deaths from diseases and suicides.

But life after being a geisha was harsh. Masuda-san did many jobs to try and look after her brother: mistress, collecting and selling food, selling soap on the black market and waitressing. The poverty after WWII is tangible. Masuda-san only told her story to a women’s magazine to try to win a prize. She did, and fifty years later, her book is still in publication and translated into English.

This story is poignant as it tells of the stigma forever attached to geisha at this time (will people find out Masuda-san’s history?) and the running away from love as to avoid that stigma for her beloved. It’s not a pretty picture, but a very compelling one.

8 out of 10.

I read this book as part of the Japanese Literature Challenge 4.

Diaries: The Python Years 1969-1979 by Michael Palin

You may have guessed by now that I’m quite a fan of Michael Palin’s travel documentaries. Well, I’m also a fan of Monty Python and couldn’t resist the opportunity to delve into his diaries, starting with the beginning of Monty Python’s Flying Circus and finishing with the Life of Brian.

Michael is himself apologetic at the beginning of the diaries, stating that he didn’t feel there was enough about Python in there, because he didn’t realise how big the whole thing would become. He continues this humble theme all the way through, demonstrating just what a nice, normal person he is. From discussing holidays with the children, to visits to the dentist and occasional commercials to pay the bills, you might think this is boring. But it’s not- it’s a view of an ordinary life that just happens to be shared with Mr Gumby, songs about lumberjacks and George Harrison.

The book is divided into each of the years- it’s not a daily account, and Michael explains why there’s gaps or gives a brief overview of what happens and it’s meticulously detailed with footnotes in case you don’t recognise some of the figures (eg. various people at the BBC, politicians, managers). I read this over a long period on the daily commute and it was relaxing to be taken through the day to day, followed by filming in exotic locale such as Tunisia or flying Concorde (I don’t think I would, even if they still existed, after one of MP’s trips)!

I think you’d need to be somewhat of a MP fan to enjoy this- it’s not just about Python and Ripping Yarns but daily life in Britain of the seventies but if you are a fan, get a hold of this book! I’m looking forward to reading the sequel, Halfway to Hollywood, 1980-88.

8.5 out of 10.

Holding the Man by Timothy Conigrave

 (image from Goodreads)

After the boring repetitiveness of Under the Tuscan Sun, I’ve made it a mission to read a little bit of the book I plan to read on my commute so I’m not stuck reading something dreadful. So, last night I started reading Holding the Man. I finished it this afternoon.

I bought Holding the Man as one of the Popular Penguins series. I thought it was about AFL (Australian Rules football), given the title. I suppose you could say that it is, a little- Tim falls in love with the captain of the footy team at school, John. So begins a love affair that ends with John’s death.

I found the initial chapters rather graphic in places (perhaps not suitable for public transport if you have people who read over your shoulder) but not offensive. I enjoyed the transcription of their lives, right down to recreated conversations. I found the description of the medical treatments very interesting (and nearly all factually correct, a rarity in today’s lack of fact checking world), especially in regards to how much HIV and AIDS treatments have progressed since John and Tim contracted the disease.

This may not be for the fainthearted as there are many sexual references, as well as a poignant farewell to John, but it’s definitely an eye opener and I’m glad I read it.

8 out of 10.

Dear Fatty by Dawn French

I seem to be drawn to biographies and travel memoirs to read on my daily commute. My theory is that they’re easy to pick up and put down and there’s no gripping scenes that will have you miss your stop.

Dear Fatty was good, but I always knew when it was my stop.

Dawn French has written her autobiography as a series of letters to various people (in case you didn’t know, ‘Fatty’ is Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous fame). It’s not strictly linear, jumping back and forth between episodes in childhood and adolescence but becoming more streamlined as she moves into adulthood. I felt she was ‘dodging’ some issues (which become clearer later in the book) and it was a bit strange to read about her love for her husband (as I’ve been told that they’ve broken up). Vicar of Dibley fans will be disappointed that the show only appears in a couple of letters.

Dawn comes across as very funny in her letters and the letters are very well written. Nothing ever drags. I found it a little difficult at times to keep up with the names of some people, but I’d recommend this as a good light read for a commute or aeroplane.

8 out of 10.

On the Edge: My Story by Richard and Mindy Hammond

I initially started this book with the aim to read it on my daily commute- I’ve read Richard Hammond’s other books and while I find them funny and entertaining, I’m sure his keyboard needs frequent replacement keys for the comma- he uses them that much. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book has just enough commas (maybe it’s his wife’s influence- if so, Mindy, can you please co-write with him in the future)?

The book starts innocently enough- a short trip through Richard’s childhood and how he became one of the hosts of Top Gear. We then move to Richard filming driving a jet car- which he then crashes and is seriously injured.

Mindy (his wife) then takes over- her shock and horror (including hearing on the radio how her husband was in a critical condition- she wasn’t aware at the time) and coping with two children and a menagerie of pets on top of a husband in ICU. She writes very well and I immediately transferred this to my ‘main’ book to read. I simply couldn’t wait for Monday to roll around to find out what happened next. 

Richard has brain damage and eventually comes out of ICU to a HDA-type area (high dependency) – he looks fine apart from a smashed eye and will talk dime a dozen to anyone. Unfortunately, he has a goldfish type memory and repeatedly asks for a cigarette or beer or to join the party. He just can’t remember that he’s had a crash and is in hospital.

Gradually though, his memory starts to return (I found the part where Mindy gives Richard the newspaper report of the crash to read very teary) and he is released from hospital. The problem is, how do you find somewhere for a Top Gear host to recover- in peace? Military precision allows the family to escape to seclusion to Scotland where Richard slowly recovers.

I’m glad the Hamster has recovered, Top Gear wouldn’t have been the same without him. This is a great book to read from a patient/family perspective of hospitals and yes, you will get references to Jezza and Captain Slow.

8.5 out of 10.