Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“The artist, in making victims of his muses, remasters himself as a hero, saving them from their otherwise inconsequential lives.”

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

Language shapes consciousness and from consciousness, our world is shaped.

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“As Baba Ram Dass (his ‘spiritual name’), Richard Alpert explained human attachment as a ‘clue that there’s work to be done’ –…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“The way Grey speaks, one would think she had been garlanded in rubies and peonies rather than the semen of men who…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

Our culture is now one of masculine triumphalism, in which transhistorically feminine expressions – empathy, sweetness, volubility, warmth – are seen as…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“Repudiating the vulnerability I felt had wrecked the lives of women around me, I modelled myself on my controlled father. I wanted…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“The bar is masculine, and women must adopt traditionally masculine characteristics – cultivated insensitivity, goal-orientated thinking, the prioritising of the material – to compete.”

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“Secret elisions within families are suddenly revealed by self-execution, and just as quickly sheeted with excuses, blame, and counter-blame. But sense is…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

Other than his ex-wife and despite appearances with a series of cultivated blondes, Edward de Bono has never publicly aligned himself with…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“Grey's thing has always been transgression – conscious, and without the interference of shame. In a world of people uncertain about the…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“He never addressed it as infidelity. To Jordan Belfort and his men, sex with a Blue Chip was a reflex of sorts…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“Does any man have the right to dispose of his own life? This is the ultimate question of moral entitlement, and relevant…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

Suicide rates have not slumped under the onslaught of antidepressants, mood-stabilizers, anxiolytic and anti-psychotic drugs; the jump in suicide rates suggests that…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

We watched each other evolve into parents, with all the fear, rage and confusion evolution can involve. Our eight-year-old is the incarnation…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

Sometimes I hear the world discussed as the realm of men. This is not my experience. I have watched men fall to…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“The light in that room was a glow; I seem to remember the color green, or perhaps flowers. A pale green sheet…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“In the absence of any therapy, the mentally ill of the 20th century were chained, shackled, straitjacketed, kept nude, electrocuted, half-frozen, parboiled,…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“Classifying depression as an illness serves the psychiatric community and pharmaceutical corporations well; it also soothes the frightened, guilty, indifferent, busy, sadistic,…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

Delirious as it can be, sex is only one kind of intimacy, and yet has become the cultural catchment area for all…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“They sit beside each other on one of the sofas, Warwick leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, Joanne resting back…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“Time is ungovernable, but grief presents us with a choice: what do we do with the savage energies of bereavement? What do…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand), the first single from Eat Me, Drink Me, features a video filmed by Titanic…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“Ninety-six per cent of juvenile prostitutes are fugitives from abusive domestic situations; 66 per cent began working before they turned 16. (Prostitution…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“One of the biggest misconceptions remains that Neil Gaiman spent his youth lurching from bedsit to library and back again, subsisting on…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“Marriage is never static. There are peaks and troughs, cycles. It is easy to forget that this shifting landscape is really only…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

Strauss admits to being obsessed by his mother's rejection, and with the resultant rents in self-esteem. The Game echoes with disturbingly abusive…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“Stirton's work, he says, is now all about investigation. 'You literally are trying to find out what's happening and, finally, manoeuvre yourself…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“It started off very underprivileged, but got more affluent.' Amis suddenly smiles to himself, remembering a moment with his father. 'I remember…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“Those who say marriage is no different to cohabitation are perhaps less sensitive to issues of continuity. Legally and socially, marriage provided…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

For years, I worked seven-day weeks, through birthdays and most public holidays, Christmases and New Year’s Eves included. I worked mornings and…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

The self-esteem of western women is founded on physical being (body mass index, youth, beauty). This creates a tricky emphasis on image,…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“I don't know why I wanted a girl,' he says, as if to himself. 'I mean, I wouldn't swap Louis, but when…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“I’m not really interested in the audience’s enjoyment,' Cave mumbles once he has changed into clean pants. 'It doesn’t bother me one…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“I remember everything,' Bette Midler flatly notes. 'But you know how in life, you tend to hold grudges? Well, I don’t do…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

What does a woman feel when she is hit? My mother slapped me when I was a child - on two occasions,…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“To cope, he and his siblings – older and younger sisters, a younger brother - created a game called Henry Kissinger. Palahniuk…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“There were times when I would sob until I shook, until my eyelids were so swollen that it pained me to open…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“On first hearing that little voice – as fine and friable, I felt, as cotton thread, the impact on my soul was…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

“In our circle, stress was a valuable status marker: I stress, therefore I am.”

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke

It is only through my daughter that I have come to realise that a life without femininity – devoid of mystery, emotion,…

— Antonella Gambotto-Burke