Lesley Truffle - Writer

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My Favourite Horror Child

February 25, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

  My Favourite Horror Child   Eloise and I go way back. At about seven I discovered six-year-old Eloise. She was parent-free, running amuck in the Plaza New York with her nanny, a pug and a turtle. I didn’t find it strange that Eloise exercised with champagne bottles, as my sister and I had hidden … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Eloise, Eloise in Paris, France, French, Hilary Knight, Kay Thompson, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, The Plaza Hotel

Venus in Steel

January 13, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

  Venus in Steel   He has the slimy assurance, the gross patter about transcendence through art, of a blow-dried Baptist selling swamp acres in Florida. And the result is that you can’t imagine America’s singularly depraved culture without him.                                                                                                                                                     Robert Hughes on Jeff Koons.   Jeff Koons has always been a divisive … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, artists, Australia, Melbourne, writers & creatives Tagged: Andy Warhol, Australia, Ilona Staller, Jeff Koons, Koons, La Cicciolina, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Melbourne, NGV, NGV Melbourne, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol, Venus, Venus de Milo, Warhol, Wilhelm Christian Myer

Phoenix Rising

January 4, 2021 by Lesley Truffle

  Phoenix Rising   ‘Hope. It’s like a drop of honey, a field of tulips blooming in the springtime. It’s a fresh rain, a whispered promise, a cloudless sky, the perfect punctuation mark at the end of a sentence. And it’s the only thing in the world keeping me afloat.’ Tahereh Mafi   Moira Finucane … [Read more…]

Posted in: Historical, Melbourne, Mythology, Observations, writers & creatives Tagged: 2021, Ancient Myths, burlesque, Finucane, hope, Lesley Truffle, Lesley Truffle Writer, Moira Finucane, Mythology, Phoenix, Phoenix Rising, Phoenix Year, Tahereh Mafi

Flash Gordon

November 23, 2020 by Lesley Truffle

    FLASH GORDON   ‘Flash, Flash, I love you, but we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth!’                                                                                                      Flash Gordon (1980)   Ming the Merciless from the planet Mongo, has a delightfully wicked line in evil patter – ‘Pathetic Earthlings … Who can save you now? ’ Played by Max von Sydow, … [Read more…]

Posted in: Fashion, Film, films, movies, writers & creatives Tagged: Alex Raymond, Dino De Laurentiis, Flash Gordon, Freddy Mercury, King of the Impossible, Klytus, Max von Sydow, Ming, Ming the Merciless, Mongo, Queen, Sam J. Jones, Saviour of the Universe

Book Dreaming

September 24, 2020 by Lesley Truffle

Book Dreaming I’ve often been asked – what are the books that meant a lot to me growing up. This is a difficult question because there are so many books I love. And I often revisit books, usually classics, I already know are going to transport me. In winter there’s pleasure to be had in … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Mavericks & Renegades, Observations, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Ada, Casanova, Eloise, Eloise in Paris, Emily Brontë, Giacomo Casanova, History of My Life, Kay Thompson, Lesley Truffle, Lolita, Nabokov, Vladamir Nabokov, Wuthering Heights

Shakespeare’s Lascivious Lutes

July 11, 2020 by Lesley Truffle

  Shakespeare’s Lascivious Lutes    ‘Grim-visaged war hath smooth’d his wrinkled front; And now, instead of mounting barbed steeds To fright the souls of fearful adversaries, He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.’          Richard III by William Shakespeare.   I went to a girl’s high school in … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Historical, Playwright, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Elizabethan, King Lear, Lesley Truffle, Richard 111, Shakespeare, the Bard, Will Shakespeare, William Shakespeare

La Dolce Vita

June 15, 2020 by Lesley Truffle

  La Dolce Vita   Italy is easing back on restrictions in line with its COVID-19 emergency plans. Border controls are changing and gyms, swimming pools and sports centres recently reopened. Theatres and cinemas are reopening. In a country dedicated to the fine arts this is important. After all, Italians understand style and the art … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Film, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Anita Ekberg, Cinquecento, Fellini, Fiat 500, Fiat Bambino, Fiat Sports, Frederico Fellini, Italian Fashion, Italian style, La dolce vita, La Grande Bellezza, Marcello Mastroianni, Paolo Sorrentino, Sorrentino, The Great Beauty

Devilish Desires

June 11, 2020 by Lesley Truffle

Dorian Gray’s Devilish Desires   ‘The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.’ The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde   In Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray the characters throw themselves around dramatically and rarely ever sit quietly. They fling themselves at the furniture with … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Fashion, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: British playwrights, British writer, Dorian Gray, gothic fiction, gothic fiction books, Lesley Truffle, Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde, Oscar Wilde, playwright, poet, poets, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde

Sorrentino – The Pope Maker

February 13, 2020 by Lesley Truffle

  Paolo Sorrentino – The Pope Maker   ‘Face it, I didn’t become famous until I took my clothes off.’ ‘I always wanted to be an actor and not a beauty pageant winner.’                                                                                  Jude Law  Jude Law plays Lenny Belardo, Pope Pious XIII in The Young Pope & The New Pope.   Paolo … [Read more…]

Posted in: Film, Observations, Television series, writers & creatives Tagged: Catholic, Catholicism, Fellini, film, Frederico Fellini, HBO, John Malkovich, Jude Law, La Grande Bellezza, Loro, Malkovich, Paolo Sorrentino, Pope Pious X111, Roma, Roman Catholicism, Romans, Rome, Sorrentino, The Great Beauty, The New Pope, The Vatican, The Young Pope

The Amorous Goldfish

December 19, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

  The Amorous Goldfish The first theatre play that I wrote, involved a character named Alphonse. I’d been fortunate in that I’d been offered a mentorship with a professional director. The Australia Council for the Arts also offered me a rehearsed reading in a city theatre with the director, professional actors and an audience. It was … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Melbourne, Psychology, writers & creatives Tagged: Alphonse, Australia Council of the Arts, goldfish, Lesley Truffle, The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte, Theater event

Everything is F*cked

December 12, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

  Everything is Fucked   ‘Look, it may be that you came to this book looking for some sort of hope … I am sorry. I don’t have that kind of answer for you. Nobody does.’                                             Mark Manson, Everything is F*cked A Book About Hope   Mark Manson’s first self-published book in 2011 was … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, current news, Observations, Psychology, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Abraham Maslow, America, Elon Musk, Everything is f*cked, Everything is F*cked A Book About Hope, Everything is fucked, Everything is Fucked A Book About Hope, Mark Manson, Maslow, Maslow's Hierachy of Needs, Models Attract Women Through Honesty, Self-help books, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, The subtle art of not giving a fuck, USA

She Purred Like a Tiger

November 7, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

She Purred Like a Tiger In 1903 Mrs Elinor Glyn published, Three Weeks. These days the novel is considered a bizarre but fairly tame read, but back then it was the Edwardians version of Fifty Shades of Grey and sold about 2 million copies. In the opening pages of my novel, The Scandalous Life of … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Edwardian Literature, Edwardians, Elinor Glyn, historical, The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte, Three Weeks, Three Weeks a novel, Tiger skins

Wuthering Heights

September 19, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

   ‘He is more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.’ Catherine defining her obsession with Heathcliff. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.   I’ve been sneaking back to the classics on those chilly nights when all you want to do after dinner is curl up with … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Film, Psychology, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Branwell Bronte, Catherine Earnshaw, Cathy and Heathcliff, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Brontë, Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights

The Leopard

August 8, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

  THE LEOPARD One of the most astonishing things about the novel, The Leopard  is that it was initially rejected by major publishing houses. Yet when it was finally published in 1958, it was acknowledged to be a masterpiece. Unfortunately by this time the author, Giuseppe di Lampedusa had died at the age of sixty … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Film, Historical, Mavericks & Renegades, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Alain Delon, Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, films, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Ill Gattopardo, Italian Literature, Italy, Lampedusa, Luchino Visconti, mid twentieth century literature, movies, Sicily, The Leopard, Viconte

Is Big Better

July 20, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

Is Big Better? Recently I visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales, to loiter in the 19th Century European collection. There are many luscious paintings – including some massive heroic oil paintings – and a few sculptures of the era. Sitting plum in the middle of these works was a massive, glittering, stainless steel … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: 19th Century art, Art, art gallery, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Balloon Dog, Big Is Better, Captain James Cook, Cook, Ilona Staller, James Cook, Jeff Koons, La Cicciolina, Michael Parekowhai, New Zealand artist, Parekowhai

Ma Kelly’s Boy

June 15, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

Ma Kelly’s Boy   ‘Don’t be frightened. Nothing will happen to you. I have a mother of my own.’                      Ned Kelly to Anne Calvert while robbing the National Bank at Euroa.   On November 11 1880, Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly was hanged for murder at Melbourne Goal. A reporter at the time claimed that Mrs … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Mavericks & Renegades, Melbourne, writers & creatives Tagged: Charles Nettleton, Edward 'Ned' Kelly, Ellen Quinn, Grantlee Kieza, Ireland, Irish Catholics, Kelly, Lesley Truffle, Melbourne, Melbourne Goal, Mrs Ellen Kelly, Mrs Kelly, Ned Kelly, outlaw

The Man in the Moon

June 12, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

  The Man in the Moon Half a century ago Neil Armstrong and Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin walked on the moon. On July 20 2019 their moon landing of July 1969 will be celebrated worldwide. Given that there’s no atmosphere on the moon, it’s possible that Armstrong and Aldrin’s footsteps may still visible on the moon’s … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, books, Film, Mavericks & Renegades, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: A Trip to the Moon, American astronaut, astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, Coleridge, Edwin Aldrin, film, French film, French filmaker, Georges Méliès, Le Voyage Dans La Lune, Lesley Truffle, Méliès, moon landing, movies, NASA, Neil Armstrong, The First Men on the Moon., The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

May 16, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

    Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ‘Kissing your hand may make you feel very good but a diamond bracelet lasts forever.’ Lorelei Lee from Anita Loos novella, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.   One of my favourite books is a hardcover 1926 tenth edition of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. So popular was Anita Loos’ novella that it ran to … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Mavericks & Renegades, Observations, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Anita Loos, film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Howard Hawks, Jane Russell, Marilyn, Marilyn Monroe, Monroe, movie

Easy Rider

April 11, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

  Easy Rider ‘You watch the white line and try to lean with it  . . . howling through a turn to the right, then to the left and down the long hill to Pacifica . . . letting off now watching for cops, but only until the next dark stretch and another few seconds … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Mavericks & Renegades, Melbourne, Observations, Social Comment, Uptown Downtown, writers & creatives Tagged: Bear Grylls, Bikies, BMW motorbikes, David Beckham, Ewen McGregor, Harley Davidson, Harleys, Hell's Angel's, Hunter S. Thompson, Kawasaki, Lesley Truffle, Motorbikes, Motorcycle gangs, Motorcyles, Steve McQueen

Peel Me a Grape

March 24, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

Peel Me a Grape Hollywood legend Mae West liked her men distinctly masculine. Her taste veered towards wrestlers, boxers, prize fighters, gangsters and musclemen. At 61 she took up with Mr California, Paul Novak, who was thirty years younger. He was one of the musclemen in her stage show at the time and he remained … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Fashion, Mavericks & Renegades, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Golden Era Movies, Hollywood, Lesley Truffle, Mae West, Marlene Dietrich, Mary Jane West, Peel Me a Grape, Salvador Dali

We all dress for Bill

January 24, 2019 by Lesley Truffle

We all dress for Bill   I never met the New York Times photographer William J. Cunningham but he was definitely one of my most favourite people. Wearing his trademark blue French workman’s jacket, Bill Cunningham peddled around New York on his bicycle, taking photographs of street fashion for his On the Street column. Bill’s … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Fashion, Social Comment, Uptown Downtown, writers & creatives Tagged: Bill Cunningham, Evening Hours, Fashion Climbing, hat designer, mid-century, New York, New York Life, New York Times, On the Street, photography, street fashion, street photography, William J

We are amused

October 13, 2018 by Lesley Truffle

  We Are Amused   What is it that strikes a spark of humor from a man? It is the effort to throw off, to fight back the burden of grief that is laid on each one of us.                                                                                                                                                      … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, Observations, Psychology, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Gustave H, Humor, Humour, Jim Carrey, Kidding, Lesley Truffle, Mark Twain, Monsieur Gustave H, Psychology, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson

Mirka’s Story

September 28, 2018 by Lesley Truffle

  Mirka Mora 1928-2018 ‘Every time you show your work, you really show your soul.’   Mirka I never met Mirka Mora, but she became one of my most favourite people. I only know Mirka through her paintings and her wonderful autobiography, Wicked but Virtuous; My Life. Whenever I stop to look at Mirka’s murals – they … [Read more…]

Posted in: art/theatre event, books, Mavericks & Renegades, Melbourne, Social Comment, writers & creatives Tagged: Auschwitz, Carrillo Gantner, Georges Mora, Lesley Truffle, Marcel Marceau, Melbourne, Mirka Mora, Monsieur Mayonnaise, Nazis, Philippe Mora, Wicked but Virtuous

Home Sweet Home

September 10, 2018 by Lesley Truffle

  Home Sweet Home   One of the questions I’ve often been asked is – how autobiographical is The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte? Given that Sasha Torte is sabotaged by abusive and neglectful parenting, escalating depression and a later addiction to opium, laudanum, champagne, piratical men and hard liquor, the question becomes loaded and … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Observations, Psychology, Social Comment, Television series, writers & creatives Tagged: At Last, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dr Drew Pinsky, Drew Pinskey, Edward St Aubyn, Lesley Truffle, Patrick Melrose, The Melrose Family, The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte

A Room of One’s Own and other Catastrophes

August 26, 2018 by Lesley Truffle

  In a recent interview journalist and former editor, Michael Gawenda, said of his son Husky Gawenda, ‘He can spend a lot of time by himself in his room. If you’re going to be a writer you have to be lonely in some way.’ (from ‘The Two of Us’. The AGE Good Weekend, 11August  2018). … [Read more…]

Posted in: books, Mavericks & Renegades, Observations, Psychology, writers & creatives Tagged: Emily Brontë, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jeffrey Meyers, Lesley Truffle, Michael Gawenda, Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby, Virginia Woolf, Wuthering Heights
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