Sydney: a biography

Description

Yes, Sydney can be vulgar, corrupt, facile, ugly, brash and mindlessly hedonistic, but it is also visually beautiful, sensual, playful, dynamic, with a sense of unrestrained optimism. I fell in love with it as only someone who wasn't born there could. In Sydney, acclaimed playwright and writer Louis Nowra - author of Kings Cross and Woolloomooloo - expands his gaze to explore the dynamism and pulsating sense of self-importance of his adopted city. This big, bustling portrait of Sydney is told through profiles of people high and low - a cast of criminals and premiers, ordinary folk, entertainers, artists, writers, thieves and visionaries. Along with its people, Nowra surveys the city's landscape, its architecture and its global identity. And as Sydney's history unfolds throughout the twentieth century and beyond, Nowra revels in its neon lights, music, skyscrapers, sense of optimism and the many disparate elements that shape Sydneysiders' view of themselves. 'Nowra captures the everchanging spirit of what is arguably - to most, and inarguably to Nowra - Australia's pre-eminent city...Filled with graphic and illuminating detail. Any Sydneysider who would like a deeper appreciation of their city would do well to dip in, and it is essential reading for anyone planning a trip.' - Julia Taylor, BOOKS+PUBLISHING

Louis Nowra is an acclaimed author, essayist, screenwriter and playwright. His plays include The Golden Age, Inside the Island, Summer of the Aliens, The Boyce Trilogy, Radiance and Cosi (the latter two were made into successful films for which he wrote the screenplays). His novels include The Misery of Beauty, Abaza and Ice, Into That Forest and Prince of Afghanistan. He co-edited an anthology of writing about Kings Cross (with Mandy Sayer), In the Gutter ... Looking at the Stars and is the author of Kings Cross: A biography and Woolloomooloo: A biography. He lives on the border between Kings Cross and Woolloomooloo.