Exploring Suburbia

Book excerpt: Exploring Suburbia is the first book-length study of suburbia in Australian literature; it addresses a long-neglected and underexamined area within Australian literature and analyzes novels by some of Australia's most important writers from a new perspective, in addition to examining novels previously neglected by critics. This book provides new insights and perspectives on fourteen Australian novels, several of which are canonical works that have been analyzed extensively by other scholars. This study will lead to a reassessment of the novels and authors under discussion and prompt further research into suburbia in Australian literature. It demonstrates that that the authors who have explored suburbia since 1961 have already moved Australian literature in a new direction, away from the traditional focus on the bush and the city, demonstrating that the literal and theoretical space between the city and the bush contains the most interesting and important engagements with contemporary Australian culture. Exploring Suburbia is an important addition for collections in literature. It will also be an excellent textbook for professors teaching courses on space and culture in literature. It will also, of course, be an essential read for courses in Australian and international literature.