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I Peed on Fellini (David Stratton, Random House, $34.95 pb, ISBN 9781741666199, March) **

David Stratton is a big name in cinema in Australia. As co-presenter of film review shows on the ABC and SBS, and with regular columns in The Australian, Stratton’s position as a first-grade reviewer is undeniable. However, in I Peed on Fellini, Stratton’s autobiography, the reader is expected to wade through vast amounts of the author’s pedestrian personal history before coming to his encounters with luminaries of film. Margaret Pomeranz, his co-presenter on film review shows, is not even introduced until close to the 300-page mark. The sad fact is Stratton isn’t actually appealing in his own right, nor are his anecdotes particularly well-written or engaging. Perhaps with the marketing force of the ABC behind the book it may find purchase in stores with an ABC Centre, but it will be a hard sell in most stores. Even the most cursory glance inside the covers of the book will alert the reader to the lack of actual cinematic content in comparison to Stratton’s personal biography. The overwhelming question is just how interesting the reader will find the life of someone essentially famous for being a critic. The answer is, unfortunately, ‘not very’.

Nadine Whitney is a former bookseller and cinema studies graduate

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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