David Marr

A computational investigation into the human representation and processing of visual information.

A Computational Investigation into the Human Representation and Processing of Visual Information

Vision

The top job is within Bill Shorten’s grasp. But who is he? How did he rise to become Labor leader? And does he have what it takes to lead the country? In this dramatic essay, David Marr traces the hidden career of a Labor warrior. He shows how a brilliant recruiter and formidable campaigner mastered first the unions and then the party. Marr presents a man willing to deal with his enemies and shift his allegiances, whose ambition to lead has been fixed since childhood. But does he stand for anything? Is Shorten a defender of Labor values in today’s Australia or a shape-shifter, driven entirely by politics? How does the union world he comes from shape the prime minister he might be? Marr reveals a man we hardly know: a virtuoso with numbers and a strategist of skill who Labor hopes will return the party to power. “Australians distrust Shorten almost as much as they distrust Abbott. That’s why this election will be fought on trust. It’s going to be dirty. At the heart of the contest will be Shorten’s character. All the way to polling day, Australians will be invited to rake over every detail of his short life and hidden career.” —David Marr, Faction Man

Bill Shorten's Path to Power

Quarterly Essay 59 Faction Man

A gripping reckoning with the bloody history of Australia's frontier wars David Marr was shocked to discover forebears who served with the brutal Native Police in the bloodiest years on the frontier. Killing for Country is the result – a soul-searching Australian history. This is a richly detailed saga of politics and power in the colonial world – of land seized, fortunes made and lost, and the violence let loose as squatters and their allies fought for possession of the country – a war still unresolved in today's Australia. ‘This book is more than a personal reckoning with Marr's forebears and their crimes. It is an account of an Australian war fought here in our own country, with names, dates, crimes, body counts and the ghastly, remorseless views of the 'settlers'. Thank you, David.’ —Marcia Langton ‘[Marr is] one of the country's most accomplished non-fiction writers. I was sometimes reminded of Robert Hughes' study of convict transportation, The Fatal Shore (1987), in the epic quality of this book ... Killing For Country is a timely exercise in truth-telling amid a disturbing resurgence of denialism.’ —Frank Bongiorno, The Age ‘Killing for Country ... stands out for its unflinching eye, its dogged research, and the quality and power of its writing.’ —Mark McKenna, Australian Book Review ‘It's a timely, vital story.’ —Jason Steger, The Age ‘The timing of this book is painfully exquisite and it demonstrates perfectly how little race politics have changed in Australia.’ —Lucy Clark, The Guardian ’This is a story about Marr's family darkness, yes. But it is also a book concerned with our collective shame. No one who reads his important and necessary account with an open mind could consider more decades of voicelessness an acceptable outcome for this nation's First Peoples.’ —Geordie Williamson, The Saturday Paper ‘Killing for Country ... shines a light into the dark shameful corners of our collective national experience. What we will find when we look and listen won't be pretty, but it is necessary to confront – not to be captives of history, but to learn from it and transcend it.’ —Julianne Schultz, The Conversation ’The family truth telling ... reminds us once again of the terrible cost of the colonisation of Australia’ —Henry Reynolds, Pearls and Irritations

A Family Story

Killing for Country

BC Only Patrick White:Letters

Australians see themselves as a relaxed and tolerant bunch. But scratch the surface and you'll uncover an extraordinary level of fear. Cronulla. Henson. Hanson. Wik. Haneef. The boats.

Panic

The leading Catholic in the nation and spiritual adviser to Tony Abbott, Cardinal George Pell has played a key role in the greatest challenge to face his church for centuries: the scandal of child sex abuse by priests. In The Prince, David Marr investigates the man and his career: how did he rise through the ranks? What does he stand for? How does he wield his authority? How much has he shaped his church and Australia? How has he handled the scandal? Marr reveals a cleric at ease with power and aggressive in asserting the prerogatives of the Vatican. His account of Pell’s career focuses on his response as a man, a priest, an archbishop and prince of the church to the scandal that has engulfed the Catholic world in the last thirty years. This is the story of a cleric slow to see what was happening around him; torn by the contest between his church and its victims; and slow to realise that the Catholic Church cannot, in the end, escape secular scrutiny. The Prince is an arresting portrait of faith, loyalty and ambition, set against a backdrop of terrible suffering and an ancient institution in turmoil. “He knows children have been wrecked. He apologises again and again. He even sees that the hostility of the press he so deplores has helped the church face the scandal. What he doesn’t get is the hostility to the church. Whatever else he believes in, Pell has profound faith in the Catholic Church. He guards it with his life. Nations come and go but the church remains.” David Marr, The Prince

Faith, Abuse and George Pell

Quarterly Essay 51 The Prince

Power Trip shows the making of Kevin Rudd, prime minister. In Eumundi, where Rudd was born, David Marr investigates the formative tragedy of his life: the death of his father and what came after. He tracks the transformation of a dreamy kid into an implacably determined youth, already set on the prime ministership. He examines Rudd’s years as Wayne Goss’s right-hand man in Queensland, his relentless work in federal Opposition – from Sunrise to AWB – and finally his record as prime minister. In Rudd’s Queensland years, Marr finds strange patterns that will recur: a tendency to chaos, a mania for control and a strange mix of heady ambition and retreat. All through this dazzling and revelatory essay, Marr seeks to know what drives an extraordinarily driven man. As Power Trip concludes, he enters into a conversation with the prime minister in which much becomes clear. “Rudd had sold himself to the Australian people as a new kind of leader: a man of intellect and values out to reshape the future. If he isn’t that, people are asking, what is he? And who is he? ... Millions of words have been written about him since he emerged from the Labor pack half a dozen years ago, but Rudd remains hidden in full view.” —David Marr, Power Trip

The Political Journey of Kevin Rudd; Quarterly Essay 38

Power Trip

Gungwu Wang

Essays on Literature in Modern Asia

Society and the Writer

In Faction Man, David Marr traces the career of a Labor warrior. In dazzling style, he shows how this brilliant recruiter and formidable campaigner mastered first the unions and then the party in pursuit of an ambition he set himself in childhood: to be Prime Minister of Australia. Bill Shorten is now a contender. But where do his loyalties lie? Is he a defender of Labor values in today’s Australia, or is he a shape-shifter, driven entirely by politics? And does this product of the old world of union intrigue have what it takes to defeat Malcolm Turnbull and lead the country? Marr reveals a man we hardly know: the Napoleon of the factions, a virtuoso with numbers and a strategist of skill who Labor has backed to return the party to power.

Bill Shorten's Pursuit of Power

Faction Man

Tony Abbott is poised to become the nation's next prime minister and, more than ever, Australian's are asking- what kind of man is he and how might he run the country? David Marr's Political Animal, with its revelation of 'the punch,' triggered intense scrutiny of Abbott's character in 2012. Now this expanded and updated edition of Marr's dramatic portrait gives the clearest picture yet of Abbott the man and politician. Marr shows him thriving on chaos and conflict. Part fighter and part charmer, Abbott is deeply religious and deeply political. What happens when his values clash with his absolute determination to win? That is the great puzzle of a career than began as a wild university politician in the 1970s and seem destined to end in the Lodge. 'David Marr is as brilliant a biographer and journalist as this country has produced.' Peter Craven, Spectator Australia

The Making of Tony Abbott

Political Animal

David Marr’s explosive bestseller, now expanded and updated. The leading Catholic in the nation and spiritual adviser to Tony Abbott, Cardinal George Pell has played a key role in the greatest challenge to face his church for centuries: the scandal of child sex abuse by priests. In The Prince, David Marr investigates the man and his career: how did he rise through the ranks? What does he stand for? How does he wield his authority? How much has he shaped his church and Australia? How has he handled the scandal? Marr reveals a cleric at ease with power and aggressive in asserting the prerogatives of the Vatican. His account of Pell’s career focuses on his response as a man, a priest, an archbishop and prince of the church to the scandal that has engulfed the Catholic world in the last thirty years. This is the story of a cleric slow to see what was happening around him; torn by the contest between his church and its victims; and slow to realise that the Catholic Church cannot, in the end, escape secular scrutiny. The Prince is an arresting portrait of faith, loyalty and ambition, set against a backdrop of terrible suffering and an ancient institution in turmoil. Longlisted, 2014 Walkley Book Award ‘An indictment of Pell for blind, evasive, flint-hearted reactions...Has a more devastating portrait of a “respectable”, living, non-politician, Australian public figure ever been published?’ —Gerard Windsor, Sydney Morning Herald ‘An incisive discussion of the character and personality of Pell’ —Jack Waterford, Canberra Times ‘Descriptively superb. This is where David Marr rivals Lytton Strachey’ —Peter Craven, Weekend Australian ‘Marr makes good use of his skills as an investigative reporter as he looks at Pell's role in the scandals and analyses the Church's struggle to save its reputation ... This is outstanding long-form journalism.’ —Walkley Magazine, Best Non-Fiction Book of 2014 David Marr has written for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Monthly, been editor of the National Times, a reporter for Four Corners, presenter of ABC TV’s Media Watch and now writes for the Guardian. His books include Patrick White: A Life, The High Price of Heaven, Dark Victory (with Marian Wilkinson) and five Quarterly Essays: His Master’s Voice, Power Trip, Political Animal, The Prince and Faction Man.

The Prince

David Marr's explosive bestseller, now expanded and fully updated. In March this year, the nation's most powerful Catholic, Cardinal George Pell, was jailed for child sexual assault. In The Prince, David Marr investigates the man, his career and his ultimate fall. Marr reveals a cleric at ease with power and aggressive in asserting the prerogatives of the Vatican. He charts Pell's response - as a man, a priest, an archbishop and a prince of the church - to the scandal that has engulfed the Catholic world- the sexual abuse of children. This is the story of a cleric torn by the contest between his church and its victims, and slow to realise that the Catholic Church cannot, in the end, escape secular scrutiny. Behind it all was Pell's own terrible secret, which was uncovered and judged in a trial that convulsed the nation. The Prince is a portrait of hypocrisy and ambition, set against a backdrop of terrible suffering and an ancient institution in turmoil.

The Prince: Faith, Abuse and George Pell (updated Edition)

Milagros Guerrero

In the end, I trusted gut feeling most when picking these essays ...... writing that made me laugh, reminded me of times I'd forgotten, or took me places I'd always wanted to go. - David Marr It was the year of Wall Street's collapse and Australia's apology, of a film-world tragedy and an art-world scandal. In Best Australian Essays 2008, David Marr has selected great writing from a turbulent time. With eyewitness accounts from crisis zones and film sets, deserts and campaign trails, and tales of failing banks and wounded birds, hitchhiking and footy jumpers, mourning brothers and raising children, music, media, art, love and obscenity, these wonderful essays paint a vivid picture of the year that was. Contributors include: Tim Flannery, Kate Jennings, Guy Rundle, Don Watson, Christos Tsiolkas, Robert Manne, Les Carlyon, Tim Winton, Robert Dessaix, Barry Humphries, Inga Clendinnen, David Malouf, Nicolas Rothwell, plus many more.

The Best Australian Essays 2008

Most Australians despise what Pauline Hanson stands for, yet politics in this country is now orbiting around One Nation. In this timely Quarterly Essay, David Marr looks at Australia’s politics of fear, resentment and race. Who votes One Nation, and why? How much of this is due to inequality? How much to racism? How should the major parties respond to anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim voices? What damage do Australia’s new entrepreneurs of hate inflict on the nation? Written with drama and wit, this is a ground-breaking look at politics and prejudice by one of Australia’s best writers. “This woman went to prison, danced the cha-cha on national television for a couple of years, and failed so often at the ballot box she became a running joke. But the truth is she never left us. She was always knocking on the door. Most of those defeats at the polls were close-run things. For twenty years political leaders appeased Hanson’s followers while working to keep her out of office. The first strategy tainted Australian politics. The second eventually failed. So she’s with us again – the Kabuki make-up, that mop of red hair and the voice telling us what we already know: ‘I’m fed up.’” —David Marr, The White Queen

One Nation and the Politics of Race

Quarterly Essay 65 The White Queen

Marian Wilkinson

This genre-breaking inside account of the Tampa, the Children Overboard affair and the Pacific Solution. Updated with startling new information.

How a government lied its way to political triumph

Dark Victory

I think this book should be called The Monster of All Time. But I am a monster . . .' Patrick WhitePatrick White, winner of the Nobel Prize and author of more than a dozen novels and plays - including Voss, The Vivisector and The Twyborn Affair - lived an extraordinary life. David Marr's brilliant biography draws not only on a wide range of original research but also on the single most difficult and important source of all- the man himself. In the weeks before his death, White read the final manuscript, which for richness of detail, authority and balance is stunning.Throughout his exciting narrative, Marr explores the roots of White's writing and unearths the raw material of his remarkable art. He makes plain the central fact of White's life as an artist- the homosexuality that formed his view of himself as an outcast and stranger able to penetrate the hearts of both men and women. Gracefully written and exhaustively researched, Patrick White is a biography of classic excellence - sympathetic, objective, penetrating and as blunt, when necessary, as White himself.

David Marr

Books

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