David Foster is a well-known Australian writer whose work has reflected Australian culture, idiosyncrasies and anxieties for over thirty-five years. Lever (humanities and social sciences, University of New South Wales), a fan as well as a scholar, laments that his work is not well enough known outside of Australia and hopes that her study will increase interest. She dissects Foster's novels to reveal the man and, more importantly, the times through which he has passed. His satire is of a Rabelaisian nature, with characters that are wild exaggerations of real life, and yet too close for comfort. Lever argues that Foster's work reflects the changing concerns of his generation, from a need to break free of the shadow of England and America to a realization of the ethnic and cultural diversity of the continent and ultimately to a need to find peace as his recent books on New South Wales indicate. Annotation 2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
