[?]Happened

Dieppe

E sort of autobiography that Simona Packenham has produced *ig tails and Pernod is largely :d on this reviewer because the shers have somehow neglected it on the dust jacket a biography e biographer. Other than to state she is the author of Ralph han Williams: A Discovery of Music. ic feels instinctively that Simona veil connected”, and that 286 5 of autobiography is not usually i for on the strength of one on musical criticism. But the itself, although soothing, con an amount of domestic detail could only be fascinating if en by the ex-Queen of a Balkan , a Hollywood movie-star or a ;ssful jockey who had been ted to the Peerage. Simona ap -5 to be none of these. family, for reasons that are r quite clear —although it prob had something to do with high ish taxes—had established them s in Dieppe. Simona herself, jver, went to an English school so crossed the Channel six times ar. ost of the “action” of the book 5 place in Dieppe during holidays le home of the autocratic Ginny grandmother) and Ginga (her dfather) who was by way of being ona ingrata in his own house who went off for a couple of cs each summer with his sympa c “girl friend”. ther members of the family— jding great-uncle-Frederick who US Consul, cousin Johnny, iry aunts and an intermittent her and step-father—add to the and sometimes the confusion. ’s a personal story of the between s period in Europe that probably n’t written to appeal to an and ean low-brow, anyhow.

IGTAILS AND PERNOD Macmillans. )

) You Get Your

Dney's Worth?

fOST Western countries have their L consumers’ associations whose ction is to see that the customer 5 value for his money and protec i from the wilder boys of advertis and high-pressure selling tech ues. fhe Australasian Consumers’ Asso tion (ACA) was founded only two irs ago and at last count had

20,000 members in Australasia and the Pacific Islands.

But the influence of the organisation goes much further than mere membership. ACA issues a magazine called Choice, and if the experience in our own office is an indication, each magazine is read by at least half a dozen people in addition to its rightful subscriber. At present it is published six times a year.

This bright little magazine publishes the findings of ACA’s scientific and other investigations into commodities in every-day use. It presents them in readable, unbiased style that reveals nothing but hard fact—something which no media living on advertising revenue can do.

Choice, of course, accepts no ad vertising and the ACA’s only income comes from the modest £1 annual subscription of members. One of the subjects dealt with in the current (October) issue of Choice is house hold fly-sprays. ACA experts take a dozen of the best known ones apart and see what makes them kill flies— and how often they do it. Other in teresting investigations m recent months have been into some of the top brand-name washing powders and the efficiency of filters on well-known brands of cigarettes, The ACA in no sense is out to “pick a fight” with manufacturers on behalf of consumers; to the contrary, its completely impartial findings

ild help manufacturers improve • products. eaders who would like a free copy Choice and more information it the Association should write ACA, 3 Randle Street, Sydney, V.