'It was my very great pleasure to launch Suburban Space, the Novel and Australian Modernity by Brigid Rooney at Sappho Books last December. Brigid is a colleague in Australian literary studies, the current President of the Australian Association for the study of Australian Literature, and current chair of English at University of Sydney. So, quite a full plate. In addition, she has written an outstanding book that opens up the question of suburbia in Australian fiction: the architectures, streets, cultures, their inherent nostalgia and their brutality.' (Introduction)