REVIEWS

Leila McKinnon is a journalist with the Nine Network.

ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE by Gail Honeyman, HarperCollins.

It’s no spoiler to reveal that she’s not in fact completely fine. Eleanor is a bit bonkers; she’s socially inept, and lonely and damaged in a way that somehow manages to be both heartbreaking and hilarious. And when Eleanor finally finds a little compassion, she ventures into a world she’s never encountered. The first time she dances, to that party perennial Y.M.C.A., she quickly catches on – “Freeform jigging, communal shapes in the air; freeform jigging, communal shapes in the air. Dancing was easy.” But why people would sing about a “gender and faithbased youth organisation” does give her pause. There are many laughs on Eleanor’s journey, and you are left with a reinvigorated faith in the power of kindnesses.

I’LL EAT WHEN I’M DEAD by Barbara Bourland, riverrun.

If the title of this book grabs your attention, the first paragraph will surely seal the deal and is worth quoting in full: “It was not impossible for a thirty-seven-year-old woman to starve to death in Manhattan, less than a mile from the nearest Whole Foods, though it was unusual.” Hillary Whitney is dead, and her friends and colleagues at RAGE Fashion Book are told it’s down to the right combination of stress and a diet of alkaline-only green juices. But these women don’t just know how to rock an outfit and sell magazines, they’re whipsmart and they, and a rather attractive male NYPD detective, are soon on the trail of a killer of rare taste and discretion. I’ll Eat When

I’m Dead is such a sharply sardonic frolic through the world of fashion that it makes

The Devil Wears Prada look so last season.

THE SECRETS OF MY LIFE by Caitlyn Jenner, Trapeze.

You may think you know a lot about Caitlyn Jenner. She was once one of the world’s greatest athletes, and went on to become the hen-pecked patriarch of the mega-famous Kardashian clan. But so much of what you’ve heard or assumed is not only wrong, it’s so wrong that the complete reverse is true. To start with, Bruce Jenner didn’t create Caitlyn – Caitlyn created Bruce. If it were not for the fact that Bruce identified as female, he would never have buried himself in his “great distraction”, training to become the decathlon Olympic champion. Here she shares her failures, her furtive forays into the world as a woman and extensive surgeries. The

Secrets of My Life is authentic, touching, and chock-full of riveting revelations.

UNCLE DYSFUNCTIONAL by A.A. Gill,

Allen & Unwin.

Advice columnist Uncle Dysfunctional is the alter ego of the brilliant writer A.A. Gill. He’s devastatingly articulate and gobsmackingly Rabelaisian. To the woman who’s turned off in bed by her boyfriend’s posh accent, he sympathises that while useful for, “ordering thousands of oiks to certain death”, it is “the most preposterous voice when naked”, and advises her to shove a pillow in his mouth – “It will remind him of school”. To the chap who writes, “Nobody understands me”, he replies, “What?”. This collection from British

Esquire magazine is a trove of great humour. He cites the women’s movement as the best thing that’s happened to men, and his fashion advice states: “the worst-dressed man in any room is the one who won’t order spaghetti because he’s got an Hermès tie on”.