Book of the week: Things I Learned at Art School by Megan Dunn
Megan Dunn could never go placidly. All her life she has rubbed up against contemporary society, popular culture, family, art, and her own obsessions in ways that, as she candidly recalls them, are both very funny and strangely moving. These uniquely personal but highly relatable essays tell of Dunn's early life and coming-of-age in New Zealand in the '70s, '80s and '90s.
Chapters include: The Ballad of Western Barbie; A Comprehensive List of All the Girls Who Teased Me at Western Heights High School, What They Looked Like and Why They Did It; On Being a Redhead; Life Begins at Forty: That Time My Uncle Killed Himself; Good Girls Write Memoirs, Bad Girls Don’t Have Time; Videos I Watched with My Father; Things I Learned at Art School; CV of a Fat Waitress; Nine Months in a Massage Parlour Called Belle de Jour; Various Uses for a Low Self-esteem; Art in the Waiting Room; and Submerging Artist.