The Temple Down the Road

by Brian Matthews

Genres: History

321 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2003

About the author

Well known as a raconteur, storyteller and public speaker, Brian Matthews is a hopelessly unreconstructed St Kilda supporter who has spent far too much of his life at the MCG and other sporting grounds pursuing truth and victory. He is the author of many books, including Louisa, the life of Louisa Lawson, and, more recently, As the Story Goes and the autobiography A Fine and Private Place. He had a cult following as a famously funny and satiric weekly columnist for the Australian Weekend Magazine from 1997 to 2001 and now writes a monthly column for Eureka Street. Brian's writing ranges widely over literary non-fiction, criticism, fiction, popular culture, satire and sport. He is Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Europe-Australia Institute at Victoria University and lives in the Clare Valley in South Australia with his wife, Jane Arms.

Reviews

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every summer, I look forward to the cricket test match that starts on Boxing Day each year at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.[return][return]Brian Matthews' book isn't an official history of the MCG; rather, it's a series of snapshots of famous events at the ground, many of them attended by Matthews himself. Many of the anecdotes are wonderful, but the structure of the book means that it's hard to put them into context.[return][return]Despite the ground's name, many Melburnians think of the MCG first and foremost as an Australian Rules Football ground. The heavy focus on Aussie Rules in this book would delight readers interested in the sport, but didn't do much for me.[return][return]So, if you're a Melburnian or a big Aussie Rules fan, you should find this book fascinating. For me, it flared into life from time to time, but was somewhat frustrating overall.

[Moe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book with lots of interesting anecdotes, and some sense of the events that happened on the ground. It focuses mostly on sporting events, including the Olympics. However, its discussion of nonsporting uses of the MCG, and a bit more background to the construction and development of the MCG were lacking. There are occasional digressions discussing matters not connected to the MCG, and these were fine. It has more the feeling of a warm book about the MCG, as its focus is based on Matthews' personal history, rather than a collection of other anecdotes.