Leonard Cohen, George Johnston, Charmain Clift, and Mungo MacCallum walk into a bar on the island of Hydra… no it’s not a joke, it’s a fine group biography by Western Australians Paul Genoni and Tanya Dalziell and my review is on the Westerly website.
Nathan Hobby, a biographer in Perth 
Hi Nathan, there’s something wrong with the comments box at Westerly: I could leave my comment, but the spaces for providing email address &c won’t accept text. So I’m putting my comment here:
It’s surprising – and disappointing – that a scholarly publishing house omits references. I recently read The Dead Still Cry Out, the Story of a Combat Cameraman, by Helen Lewis, which is also intended for a varied readership, and as well as author notes, references &c at the back of the book, there is also a link to the author’s website, which offers all the references in full. In the internet age, that is an obvious option which Monash and the author could have offered.
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That’s an annoying glitch on the site! I agree with you – so many options for references which could have been used.
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Maybe that makes a case for writing a post about what the options are?
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Yes! It’s a perpetual issue for nonfiction.
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Good review Nathan, of a time and place which still fascinates. In 2017 I reviewed Clift’s memoir, visited Hydra, looked for her & Johnston’s house, got photos of Cohen’s house and of the bar/cafe where they met etc. etc.. I’m still not a fan of Johnston who I think is a blowhard but I wish I’d been there! I wonder what Mungo Maccullum has written about it. I enjoyed his writing in the Nation Review but he has since dropped of my radar.
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What an experience Hydra would have been! Mungo wrote a book on prime ministers recently, I think.
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