130,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

A Kind of Confession

The writer's private world
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
A Kind of Confession by Alex Miller blends memoir with literary exploration, offering readers an intimate look into the author's creative life and the profound connections between his personal experiences and his acclaimed works. As Miller reflects on the influences and inspirations that shaped his storytelling, the book provides a rich tapestry of insights into the world of writing and the enduring power of art. This narrative becomes a compelling journey through the mind of one of Australia's beloved authors.
Read More
Format: Hardback
$4999
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this engaging exploration if you have an interest in the complexities of artistic life and the nuances of personal and creative expression. This book offers insights into the life of a writer, providing an intimate look at the challenges and inspirations that shape the creation of art.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

A deeply personal, behind-the-scenes exploration of Alex Miller's six-decade writing life.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE PRIME MINISTER'S LITERARY AWARDS

A Kind of Confession is a secret look into Alex Miller's writing life, spanning sixty years of creativity and inspiration. As a young man in 1961, Miller left his work as a ringer in Queensland and set out to achieve his dream of becoming a serious novelist. It was not until 1988 that his first novel, Watching the Climbers on the Mountain, was published. Twelve more novels would follow, all bestsellers, many published internationally.

This selection from his notebooks and letters makes it exhilaratingly evident that Miller has been devoted to finding and telling stories that are profound, substantial, and entertaining, stories that capture both intellect and emotion.

Miller's fascinating life is told in a personal, behind-the-scenes exploration of his struggle to become a published writer, his determination, his methods of creative thought, and the sources of his inspiration. His writing, sometimes in anger and despair, sometimes with humour and joy, whether created for publication or for private meditation, is alive with ideas, moral choices, commentary, encouragement, criticism, and love.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

A Kind of Confession by Alex Miller is deeply praised for its rich narrative, exploring the author's personal and professional journey through vivid storytelling. Reviewers commend Miller for his candid reflections on the writing process and his evocative portrayal of the landscapes that feature prominently in his life and works. The book is lauded for its blend of autobiography and commentary on the artistic process, offering readers both inspiration and profound insights into the life of a celebrated author.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781761470769

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 28 November 2023

Country: Australia

Imprint: Allen & Unwin

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 635g

Pages: 360

About the Author

Alex Miller is the award-winning author of thirteen novels and a collection of essays and stories. He is published internationally and widely in translation. Miller is twice winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award, for The Ancestor Game and for Journey to the Stone Country. He is an overall winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 1993 for The Ancestor Game. Conditions of Faith and Lovesong are both winners of the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in the NSW Premier's Awards. Landscape of Farewell was awarded the Chinese 21st Century Weishanhi Best Foreign Novel of the Year and the Manning Clark Medal for Miller's outstanding contribution to Australian cultural life. Autumn Laing received the Melbourne Prize for Literature, and Coal Creek, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award. Miller's work of non-fiction, Max, was shortlisted for the National Biography Award in 2021. His most recent novel, A Brief Affair, was published in 2022.

Also by Alex Miller

View all
  • On Sale
    21% off
    The Deal
    'Miller has created a body of writing that is now acknowledged as one of the great Australian literary achievements of the past half-century.' - Morag Fraser It's 1975, and at the threshold of his writing career, Andy McPherson is navigating how to be fully present both for his partner, Jo, and their young daughter. When forced to take a part-time...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • A Brief Affair
    More than one ghost haunts this tender novel about love in its many guises, condoned and illicit. In his deceptively simple, lucid prose, Alex Miller examines the emotional contradictions inherent in apparent opposites as his central character learns to draw strength and inspiration from unlikely places. Hauntingly beautiful, A Brief Affair will resonate long after its pages are closed. -...
    Paperback
    $3500
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • A Brief Affair
    More than one ghost haunts this tender novel about love in its many guises, condoned and illicit. In his deceptively simple, lucid prose, Alex Miller examines the emotional contradictions inherent in apparent opposites as his central character learns to draw strength and inspiration from unlikely places. Hauntingly beautiful, A Brief Affair will resonate long after its pages are closed. –...
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Journey to the Stone Country
    Winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award A terrific tale of love and redemption that captivates from the first line." β€” Nicholas Shakespeare, author of The Dancer Upstairs Betrayed by her husband, Annabelle Beck retreats from Melbourne to her old family home in tropical North Queensland where she meets Bo Rennie, one of the Jangga tribe. Intrigued by Bo's claim...
    Paperback
    $2799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Passage of Love
    The Passage of Love is capacious, wise, and startlingly honest about human frailty and the permutations of love over time. Frankly autobiographical, it is also a work of fully achieved fiction, ripe with experience, double-voiced, populated with unpredictable men and women, and set in Miller's landscapes that characteristically throb with life. β€” Morag Fraser, Australian Book Review Sitting in a...
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Max
    SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY AWARD Max is haunted by devastating insights. Blatt told Miller that the hardest part of torture was the realisation that the torturer was also your brother. It is the same generosity that makes Max such a compelling argument against narrowness and division. Blatt's life has deep and wide ramifications. Miller's intelligent love has created a...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Journey to the End of Time
    Robust, textured and fascinating, this collection of short stories, memoir, journal entries, essays and poems, Journey to the End of Time, spans decades of Alex Miller's life. The collection opens with a moving depiction of Miller's father leaving for war and closes with the final words of a poem written in 2023: when, eventually, after long labours the voice of...
    Hardback
    $4999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Coal Creek
    'Me and Ben had been mates since we was boys and if it come to it I knew I would have to be on his side.' Bobby Blue is caught between loyalty to his only friend, Ben Tobin, and his boss, Daniel Collins, the new constable at Mount Hay. 'Ben was not a big man but he was strong and...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

More from Arts & Culture

View all
  • Dylan's Pick
    Bold Types
    A tribute to 32 truly independent bookshops throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, from north of Auckland down to Dunedin, and coast to coast. Jane Ussher's photographs show every bookstore in its unique nature - including behind the counter, smoko rooms, the mess which tells the hardworking story behind the joy of matching books with customers. Jemma Moreira's careful editing has crafted...
    Hardback
    $5999
    Elsewhere:
    $7000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    I’ll Believe in Anything
    From Jacob Tierney, the creator ofΒ Heated Rivalry, in partnership with Brendan Brady and AccentΒ Aigu, comesΒ I’llΒ Believe in Anything, an official and complete collection of annotated scripts for the biggest cultural sensation of the year, with all new exclusive behind-the-scenes content.Based on Rachel Reid’s blockbuster Game Changers book series,Β Heated RivalryΒ premiered on Crave and HBO in late 2025 andΒ immediatelyΒ took the world by storm.Β I’ll...
    Hardback
    $5499
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • New Release
    Home Again
    Join rock-legend, former Shihad frontman and lead singer of The Adults, Jon Toogood in this unflinching and no-holds-barred memoirΒ Home Again.This is more than a rock story.Β Toogood looks back on a 37-year career that helped define New Zealand rock music, and the personal cost that came with it.Β From a music-obsessed childhood in Wellington to the deafening roar of international stages, this...
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Odyssey
    Composed at the rosy-fingered dawn of world literature almost three millennia ago, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty and power; about marriage and family; about travellers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. This fresh, authoritative translation captures the beauty of this ancient poem as well as the drama of its narrative....
    By Homer
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3599
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Birdlands Birdlands
    New Release
    Birdlands
    A rare, intimate journey into the wild islands where Aotearoa's birds live beyond the reach of most human lives. In the most remote outposts of Aotearoa, our islands are populated not with people, but with birds. From the storm-lashed Subantarctic Islands in the deep south to the scattered volcanic islands of Tikapa Moana/Hauraki Gulf in the north, Birdlands offers a...
    Hardback
    $4199
    Elsewhere:
    $5000
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Iliad
    When Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017β€”revealing the ancient poem in a contemporary idiom that was "fresh, unpretentious and lean" (Madeline Miller, Washington Post)β€”critics lauded it as "a revelation" (Susan Chira, New York Times) and "a cultural landmark" (Charlotte Higgins, Guardian) that would forever change how Homer is read in English. Now Wilson has returned with an...
    By Homer
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook
    Embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2! After a long day of sailing to see how far you’ll go or keeping the demigod Maui out of trouble with Te Fiti, catch a break with the delicious dishes in Moana: The Official Cookbook! Featuring more than 50 recipes spanning the...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $5299
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Split Enz
    New Release
    Split Enz
    'My favourite band. Ever! And certainly the best dressed.' Sam Neill Split Enz were never designed to fit. Emerging from art school mischief in early-1970s New Zealand, they turned pop into surreal theatre: costume, character and melody colliding in a rock band that refused to behave like one. At the centre of that vision was Noel Crombieβ€”percussionist, performer and the...
    Hardback
    $5199
    Elsewhere:
    $6500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • A Life in Lyrics
    Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest showmen of the twentieth century. With his unparalleled voice and searing on-stage energy, he was a great pretender, a killer queen and a champion of the world. But behind the glamour lived a musician and lyricist talented beyond measure, and the creative force behind one of the most culturally significant and musically diverse...
    Hardback
    $5000
    Elsewhere:
    $6500
    Pre-order
    Out
  • Starside
    Enter the enchanting and deadly world of Starside, where swords have magic and power isn’t inherited – it’s claimed, from No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Alex Aster.Hundreds of years ago, a brutal war split a land in two. Starside is the realm of magic and immortals – the descendants of the gods, living in a power-rich paradise. Stormside...
    Paperback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $3899
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • This Angry Pen of Mine
    This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...
    Hardback
    $7299
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Did I Ever Tell You This?
    In this unexpected memoir, written in a creative burst of just a few months in 2022, Sam Neill tells the story of how he became one of the world’s most celebrated actors, who has worked with everyone from Meryl Streep to Isabel Adjani, from Jeff Goldblum to Sean Connery, from Steven Spielberg to Jane Campion. By his own account, his...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Elsewhere:
    $4500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.