MAN
48 ELLE AUSTRALIA
Words: Laura Collins. Photography: Adrian Cookown bed, after a massive overdose
of rohypnol and heroin. Garner
navigates the complicated territory
that lies between ethics and the law
ǰ ę
lucid anger. This is a meditation
on female friendship, human
responsibility and grief, told
precisely and honestly.TENTH OF DECEMBER
by George Saunders
Saunders is an incredibly
deep and humanistic
writer, but he’s also very playful.
This collection of short stories
features all the classic Saunders
antiheroes – lonely people, sad
men and women with soul-killing
jobs, obsessed with climbing the
social ladder. Saunders can kill
you with compassion, and to
read his work is to experience
£ Ě ǯ
In his best work, Saunders will
tenderly open you up like a good-
natured butcher, smiling as
he reaches into your guts and
shows you something you never
knew was there.READ
Astheexcitingnewforcebehind
theSydney Writers’ Festival,
artisticdirectorMichaela
McGuiresharesthereads
sheholdsdearestMY
LIFE IN
BOOKS
FIVE ON
A TREASURE ISLAND
by Enid Blyton
As a kid, I was an obsessive
bookworm and although I read
and re-read all of Enid Blyton’s
books, it was my aunt’s
hand-me-down Famous Five series
that I returned to most often. I was
a tomboy, just like George, and she
inspired me to have my hair cut
like a boy when I was eight. I don’t
remember the hairdresser using an
actual bowl to do this, but they
may as well have. The Famous Five
were my only friends for the few
years it took my hair to grow back.JOE CINQUE’S
CONSOLATION
by Helen Garner
This book completely
changed the way I thought about
journalism, and the power of
ȱ Ȭęǯȱ ȱ
follows the bizarre true-crime story
of a young law student who
revealed her plot to murder her
boyfriend during a dinner party.
Days later, Joe Cinque died in hisELLE: Have you ever used your fame to get out of trouble?
CH: Ȃȱę¢ȱȱȱȱȱȱȱ ȱ
seem to like Sons Of Anarchy. When the show was on,
Ȃȱȱ¢ȱȱȱ ȱȱĴȱȱȱȱ
law would allow. And I got pulled over my fair share.
It didn’t always work, but maybe two or three times
I didn’t get a ticket. It was very handy.
ELLE: You were cast in Fifty Shades Of Grey but
backed ȱȱȱȱĚǯȱ
ȱ¢ȱ
ȱȱęs?
CH: I haven’t. I developed a friendship with [director
Sam Taylor-Johnson], but that was a somewhat traumatic
experience for me. I didn’t want to open that wound.
ELLE: King Arthur is a story about destiny. Do you
believe in fate?
CH: ǯȱ ȱȱ ȱȱěȱȱ ȱǰȱȱȂȱ
also a powerful energy that’s the universe or God
or whatever your unconscious recognises that helps
you along the way.ELLE: Is there a story from your own life that
informed that view?
CH: No, but I’ll tell you what Henry David Thoreau
DZȱ ȃ ȱ ȱ ȱ ę¢ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ
of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which
he has imagined, he will meet with a success
unexpected in common hours.” When you live your
destiny, you allow yourself to get in touch with
your ȱ ǯȱ Ȃȱ Ĝ in life is the
economic and social requirements that distract us
from bringing forth our true passion.
ELLE: Economic requirements! Don’t you have, like,
80 pairs of sneakers?
CH: I did at a period in my life. Not anymore.
ELLE: What changed?
CH: I grew up. I spent an enormous amount of time
sourcing the good shit. I needed limited-edition, blah
blah blah. Then I thought, “What the fuck am I doing?”
King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword is out May 11