Sunday, March 6, 2011 (in Sydney)

A ZOO(M) WITH A VIEW: Sandy and I caught a ferry to cross Sydney's expansive harbor to go to the remarkable Taronga Zoo, which snuggles itself among the folds on the northern side of the bay. The long-distance and close-up views at the zoo were fantastic. The giraffe (above) merely had to swing his/her head to enjoy a full panorama of the harbor. The koala (right) was less interested in any kind of view or activity. We particularly enjoyed the Sky Safari, a cable car ride that whisks you from the ferry dock to to top of the hill (below), cruising above some of the animals, such as elephants and chimpanzees. Somehow we successfully made our "exit through the gift shop" without buying anything. One of life's little victories.



BY, ER, BUY THE BOOK: From my own perch in Singapore/Sydney, I was delighted to see that the memoir Pitch Uncertain by Maisie Houghton, received
a very positive review in March 24 issue of The New York Review of Books. Maisie's book was just published by us [TidePool Press]. The review, by Walter Kaiser, includes this comment:

Her account of her parents is compassionate but unflinching in its candor, and her analysis of their characters is sharp with insight, sometimes sorrowful, sometimes impatient, sometimes accepting. They come alive on the page, as she attempts to understand the world into which she was born, so as not to be imprisoned by its customs and its cultural assumptions but to understand who she is. That knowledge is the hard-won triumph of her book.

This review is a nice follow-up to pre-publication reviews in Publishers Weekly and Vogue. We're working on a couple of manuscripts for summer and fall publication. And I am continuing to do my research and writing on my World War I-related book that's tentatively entitled The Blinks: The Blind Soldiers of the A.E.F. and the Woman Who Brought Them Home.