Dear Fatty....our thoughts

The following are some of the points brought up during a lively discussion of Dawn French's autobiography 'Dear Fatty'.

• there was a lot of sadness in the book- loss of her father, IVF attempts, race issue, her appearance, moving schools etc
• loved the letters to her father, very emotional, writing it was possibly quite cathartic
• it was very easy to put down.....glad it was a library book!
• comedians are often sad people
• wanted more understanding of the mind of the comedian
• didn't 'get' the Madonna letters
• found the letter format confusing and annoyed by the lack of chronological order
• she comes across as a warm and bubbly person, but probably quite hard to live with though
• the photos had me laughing, she made fun of herself being fat
• glad I read it but I didn't really enjoy it
• I was from there so could relate to the people and places she talked about....sorry it came to an end. Liked her black humor.
• saw her recently on television -  she has lost a lot of weight and has separated from her husband

1st Tuesday Book club visit

Tuesday 31st May saw 12 of us travel on the bus, provided by Hawkesbury Library, to watch a taping of Jennifer Byrne's show - The 1st Tuesday Book Club. The day was a great success from being delivered directly to the front door of the ABC studios to watching the process of how a TV show is recorded. Jennifer Byrne came across as an extremely warm, friendly & intelligent interviewer. She easily put her guests, as well as us, at ease. We were lucky to watch the recording of Jennifer's interview with Geraldine Brooks - an Australian journalist, foreign correspondent & Pullitzer Prize winner. Geraldine's journalistic career saw her reporting from many tense, sometimes dangerous hotspots. She has a great sense of curiosity & attention to detail which comes out in her books. The 2nd segment recorded was a discussion panel that included (Australian author) Michael Rowbotham & (actor) Virginia Gay. The other usual guests included Marieke Hardy & Jason Steger. The novels discussed included Cold Comfort Farm  & the Last Werewolf. The panel were interesting, entertaining & showed a depth of knowledge of the craft of writing. A thoroughly enjoyable day.