OUT NOW! Available at all good bookstores and from online retailers. David Bateman Publishers, 224pp, RRP $49.99. ISBN 9781776890941

In the 1980s, life in New Zealand became brighter, louder, faster and wilder. While the decade is remembered for its big hair, bright clothing and excessive shows of wealth, it was also a time of social upheaval, protest and political reform. These years saw Kiwis make their mark on the global sport and fashion scenes, while back at home, we began to embrace our own music, movies and books. Good As Gold provides a wonderfully eclectic stroll back through life in New Zealand during the decade that gave us such wonders as Space Invaders calculators, R2-D2 ice blocks, Jazzercise and Blue Light discos.

Interview with Kathryn Ryan on RNZ:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018908700/good-as-gold-matt-elliott-looks-at-the-best-and-worst

‘The Eighties was as messy a decade as any other and only a historian or someone with too much time on their hands would try to find a shape within it. Matt Elliott for his softcover, coffee-table, thoroughly illustrated 190 page book Good As Gold is smart enough to just throw all the images out there which will provoke and evoke, and just walk us through the years with pictures of McPhail and Gadsby, sports and leisurewear, Rip It Up, video games, The Bone People, BillT James, San Bran, the Rugby World Cup . . .Here too is the international impact from sport, Bowie, Dire Straits, Toshiba cassette players, Ray Bans . . .From Miss Universe to murders, the Rubik Cube to An Unfortunate Experiment at National Women’s, this page-flick book will trigger memories. Some fun ones and some not so much.’ – Graham Reid, Elsewhere