>I think it inappropriate that you've used this forum to air
>your (personal) grievances. Tough reviews are part of all genres,
>as you well know.
Sorry, Anthony: but it wasn't a review. Reviews can be whatever they
are. It was an opinion piece in the Sunday papers, and therefore in a
sense gratuitous; and for me it had applications beyond the work itself.
John Embling, one of the founders of the Families in Distress Foundation
in Footsray, and author of the books Fighting Back and Fragmented Lives,
has had exactly the same reactions when he has talked about his work,
which is infinitely more important than art: when he has talked about the
kinds of violence with which he deals every day, and the kinds of
circumstances under which the children he attempts to help live, he is
told "that doesn't happen here" or "don't make us feel guilty".
Both reactions - against Emblign and against the plays - are hostile
reactions against the truths of OUR society, both profoundly
anti-intellectual and intellectually dishonest, and I want better from
those who speak publically about them.
Best
Alison
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