We used to store and display our book tightly packed in cardboard fruit boxes. Books were selected on the basis of how well they physically fitted together in each box, rather than because they followed some similar theme. That made it frustrating for people (including me) who might be looking for a particular book, but it also made browsing the library a bit of a wild adventure. So in this random bunch – half a box’s worth of books – there are:
Books by:
– a comedian/broadcaster with a University Degree in Mathematics
– a SAS soldier who turned his skills to robbing banks and ended up in Albany Prison. Before my time there, but still remembered
– a nuclear physisict who worked on building the atomic bomb with Oppenheimer, who used to crack safes when he was bored
– an irish writer who spent 50 years cycling the world. Often with child in tow, and almost always whisky or some local brew
– the daughter of an Australian publisher who tried to suppress publication of his own autobiography
– someone who was famous for being famous long before the Kardashians, who dabbled in (very dodgy) pornography when she needed the money
– USA’s – and possibly the world’s – most disgusted poet, writing about his childhood.
– a Perth writer who (with others) achieved the release of two innocent men serving 20 years in prison for murders someone else had already confessed to
– a visitor to a South American prison which doubled as a drug factory, and a hotel
– another cyclist, this time a Vietnamese refugee returning ‘home’, who finds a cooler than expected reception
– and more.
