About the Author

Xavier Pons teaches Australian Studies at the University of Toulouse (France). A former President of the European Association for Studies on Australia, he has lectured and done research at several Australian universities.He has published widely on many aspects of Australian culture (Out of Eden, 1984; A Sheltered Land, 1994; Departures, 2002) and has been described as `probably the best known and most highly respected Australian Studies scholar in Europe.'

Reviews

`timely, witty, and sharply analytical... a very important book in the annals of Australian literary critique'-novelist Brian Castro, Chair of Creative Writing, University of Adelaide`extremely interesting... extremely well-written... brilliant' -poet John Kinsella, Professor of English, Kenyon College`first rate... strong and original'-Professor Peter Pierce, National Centre for Australian Studies, Monash University`Pons ... is clearly an expert in his subject, and renders his explorations lucidly, at times with great insight, and intelligibly in non-specialist eyes... Readers will find in this book an assortment of ideas, speculations and suggestions that may be the starting points for imaginative journeys' - Malcolm Knox, Australian Book Review, October 2009, p. 24"French academic Xavier Pons is a long-standing, astute observer and commentator of Australian society and literature. He brings his considerable knowledge and insight to bear into this book, a thorough, racy, well-informed, at times amusing, investigation of concepts such as sex and transgression, sex and ethnicity, sex and post-colonialism, not so much in their historical reality as in their literary representations."Helene Jaccomard, University of Western Australia in Explorations, No. 47, Dec 2009