(ed by Deborah Fleming, ABC Books, $39.95 pb, ISBN 9780733321344, November) ***

Australian Story: Off the Record takes you behind the scenes of one of Australia’s best-loved TV shows. This is the stuff we didn’t get to see—the blood, sweat and tears that go into producing a hit show: the friendships that were forged, the budgets that were broken, the heartache over stories that fell apart and the joy over stories that, hundreds of cups of tea and iced vovos later, came together at the last minute. As well as the sometimes negative aftermath once a story has aired. A slick production with lots of glossy photos, Australian Story: Off the Record sits somewhere between memoir and coffee-table book. The articles are written by cameramen, producers, journalists, even the odd subject, all of whom recount their favourite Australian Story moments. Among them are Julia Gillard and Wendy Harmer, as well as some lesser-known heroes. There’s not much to chew here and some of the articles tend to be a little repetitive (everyone loves William McInnes!), but the articles are heartfelt, full of humour and a great reminder that with all good stories chance plays an important role.

Esther van Doornum works as a bookseller at Readings in Carlton

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2007, Thorpe-Bowker