After Cassie's abuse of Australia, one can only say:

- lightweight authors are exportable

- having read some of her work the Americans deserve her

- the American fiction market pays more, must be "where your heart is...."

- one more b(w)itch for Salem...

I hope this sour woman is as happy in the US as we are happy to see her go.

Interestingly, it appears the first two posters are 'projecting' inadequacies on to the author and her writing - lightweight, and a sour-puss? Oh please.

Cassandra, I think the article was beautifully written.

Yes, qanda - a beautifully written and wistful piece. Imagine Leigh calling someone else "sour". Has he ever looked in a mirror?

Thank you Cassandra, I enjoyed the essay.

Maybe it didn't have enough madeleines for plantagenet's refined palate.

But that's Ok.

Boston is still very cool, I hope you enjoy it as much as you anticipate.

(Did I say cool? Do you really know what winter is like there...?)

Look, my concern is Cassie's ceptophilia at the expense of my/our country.

Ceptophilia (love of America and ..cans) by the way, has just been invented by moi (and not Pericles) as it stems from Yank, thus Tank, thus ceptic, with "philia" being added just then, by me. You read it here first on OLO. But I digress.

Cassie can indeed write pretty prose and that does beguile some posters on this thread but she has also decided to gratuitously put down the country (Australia) that brought her up.

She needs to recognise that her openness of thought may actually spring from the Australian milieu, that is a land of sceptics, not a country of patriots right or wrong full of "Truth, Justice and the American Way" - something that hurts so many people outside America's shores.

Having passed through Salem, it is pretty, has charm and is also a tourist trap for the witch obsessed. Only the rich can afford to move and live there. With high costs of living (e.g. for heating) current house prices that Cassie refers to are just one component.

So fiction-philiacs just because some, like Cassie, can afford to move from Australia doesn't justify Cassie's "eFF You" attitude to the lives and values of Australians less lucky.

Pete

Home is where you make it such.

Boston:

Do miss clam chowder.

Will never miss those bone chilling winds and that was just in Spring.

Cassandra, if you should pine for male-worshipping yobbism there are plenty out of the 50 states from which to choose - personal experience; Arizona. My favourite state is/was New Orleans; haven't returned since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and am concerned at what is probably a property developer's wet-dream.

Good Luck and if you ever miss the smell of eucalyptus there is always California.

Go Cassie,

to the land of Obamacare and Obamahope.

My son too is also off to the US to live and work. I raised him ... Australia didn't. Go luck to all of you. I hope your choice and lives are a success. I moved countries once and wasn't dissapointed and loved my friendly, welcoming and open Australia.

... but it's changed now.

Where once we held governments accountable when`they failed us we now call for the scrapping of the system. (The failed states are all failed Labor Governments) In health the state labor tossers mismanaged and threw wasted money at health and hospitals. So clever Australians now expect the Federal labor tossers to throw money at the hospitals to fix the state labor tossers mess. Why would you stay ... Cassie go and goodluck.

Where once we'd be outraged when Governments stuffed things so badly that it killed people and is to cost as much again to fix their stuff ups now we merely shrugg and accept their lies. Go Cassie while you are still sane ... but don't take our Government sponsered batts.

Where once we'd be shamed at wasted building funds and when schools were run reasonably by principals and p and c's we now see an excused and superfically enquired into labor tosser fiasco being sweep under our collective rug. Oh and Australia's education system is still stuffed by the same labor state tossers and still we accept the same federal labor tossers are going to fix it up by doing things differently. Go Cassie ... while you education qualifications are still worth something.

Where once we valued our surplus we now herald the brilliant economic management that sees us trudging off to debt. Again both state and labor tossers are accorded tributes for their brilliance. Go Cassie ... while your money is still worth something.

But Cassie I'm not sure you'll find border security in the US any different but what you will find there is that illegals are illegals and not asylum seekers.

go Cassie before you lose the ability to see truth.

Poor dear, she misses sprinklers, for goodness sake we will soon be fighting inter-state wars over water. Lightweight is the word and clearly isolated from the realities of life for most of the world.

A plastic woman, writing plastic words, about a plastic life.

What meaningless twaddle.

I may be too down to earth but I am having trouble recognising as a democracy a country that who can train helicopter gunners to shoot human beings just walking down a street, in their own country, and arming them with 30mm exploding cannon shells to do so.
In WW1 dum-dum bullets were banned as too deadly!

Cassandra was a stupid woman who is drawing too much attention.More than what she deserves.
If she sneaks back into Australia and people recognise her please be nice to the bitch. It's only a matter of time before she ends up in Christmas island.

socratease

This is my first time using this forum and I have to say how extremely disappointing it is to read these posts. What narrow minded people can read this piece of writing and come to the conclusion that Cassandra is bashing Australia and promoting America, it's beyond my understanding. Come on people are you serious? I mean really? I also have commented over the years about our children missing out on playing under the sprinkler. Is this the most critical of our concerns regarding the current water crisis of course bloody not, does she suggest it is? But yes you are right...how dare she even consider to share her romantic childhood memories...curse her to hell, or to America as you suggest. In contrast, I particularly liked the piece about the charm bracelet. It's an insightful observation about human behavior. We do tend to collect iconic images from our travels or places of exotic 'otherness' and it's interesting to consider, whether migration then turns those notions of other to the home country. This is a lovely piece of writing and all you idiots who offer nothing of a professional or even mildly educated critique other than to personally slam the author, really guys GET A FRIGGIN LIFE! And next time, try to read a little between the lines, you might find there's a whole new world there.

pax

Well said! Cassandra is not dumping on Oz at all - if anything, she is torn between her man and her love for Australia. I can only wish her well.

Unfortunately, some 'grumpy old OLO farts' have lost their comprehension skills, or have no capacity to see and judge beautiful prose for what it really is - sad really, but ... Welcome to OLO!

Dearest pox and panda

Cassie's female status is neither relevant nor an excuse for her abuse of the country we live in.

And panda - we so called "OLO Farts" trail a certain redolent fragrance that we will never bestow on youse.

Yours

Poida

Dear pax,
Good post.

plantagenet - what abuse?

platagenet

I lived for a couple of years in the USA and understand fully the complexity and contradiction of emotions a person feels on moving to another country.

Australia is what it is - both wonderful and terrible, welcoming and racist, accepting and ignorant.

I love my country, but it is not the only nation on this extraordinary planet.

I'm guessing that you don't understand if refugees still get homesick even though they are making new lives for themselves here.

Poiret

If you can't see the many instances of abuse by now I won't be able to persuade you. Its all yours to resolve.

Severin

I think "refugee" (forced to leave or can't return on pain of death etc) doesn't fit except on illegitimate economic refugee grounds.

However the complexity of feeling about two countries is very interesting. I lived in the US for about 2 and half years - loved parts of that experience and some Americans, liked other things but I never used the US or Britain (stayed one year) as a flail to hit Australia before I left it - or while away, or now.

Cassie's motivation in deciding on an anti-Australian tack appears odd and passe given Humphries and Greer have done it before.

It might have been Louella Parsons who said "Intentional bad publicity can be good publicity, but unless you're Paris Hilton this is a fib."

Maybe not.

Thank you Plantagenet

For removing any doubt I had regarding your empathy for others or for having any comprehension of Cassandra's article.

No probs Sev

I certainly do have empathy for the needy - which does not include literary flippants writing abusive quickies to boost their future book sales ie. for the loot.

Pete

That's a cop-out, plantagenet, and you know it.

>>If you can't see the many instances of abuse by now I won't be able to persuade you. Its all yours to resolve.<<

For a start, if others have detected no instances, what is there for them to "resolve"?

You seem to be the one who sees abuse in the article, so it is not unreasonable for people to ask you what, exactly, you have an issue with. You cannot expect them to be mind-readers, in all fairness.

My own view is that you have painted yourself into a corner, predominantly as a result of your dislike of Cassie's "pretty prose", and find yourself unable to justify your view that she has slighted your country.

But I could be wrong. Especially if you are able to provide some examples.

Dear Pericles

If you are in fact the embodiment of a long dead Athenian statesmen I trust you will be repelled by Cassie's boulder like wit. To help you through Cassie's piece please read on. Cassie said gratitously:

"I am turning my back on Australia Day..."

"The greenback might be in strife but the rainbow-fish coloured bills of our currency are a joke everywhere in the world,..."

“Advance Australia Fair” doesn’t even come close to the “Star Spangled Banner”."

"A colleague once said that he was an American trapped in an Australian body."

"There are few things worse than ordinariness. And let’s face it, Barry Humphries got as far away from Australia as he possibly could."

I have stirred up those who have exercised their alternate realities and views. Please respect mine in the finest traditions of this fair forum.

For the sake of other mentionable OLO articles it is time to say bye bye.

Pete