Blubberland: The dangers of happiness

Why is western humanity, richer and safer than ever before, also fatter, sadder and more fearful? Blubberland is a witty and engaging critique of the way we live now. Leading architecture critic and writer Elizabeth Farrelly asks why we find it so hard to abandon habits we know to be destructive, from the five-car garages of the McMansion to the insatiable urge to shop, shop, shop. Ranging widely from architecture and city-planning to truth, beauty, nature and desire, Blubberland is a smart, thoughtful and stylish argument for turning things around.

Elizabeth Farrelly is a columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald and author who trained as an architect in Auckland, practised in London and Bristol and holds a PhD in architecture from the University of Sydney, where she is also Adjunct Associate Professor. She has been assistant editor of The Architectural Review in London, an independent Councillor in the City of Sydney and inaugural chair of the Australia Award for Urban Design. Elizabeth’s writing awards include the Marion Mahony Griffin Award (2002), the Pascall Prize for Critical Writing (2001), the Adrian Ashton Award (1994) and the Paris-based CICA award for international criticism (1992). Her previous book, a monograph on 2003 Pritzker prizewinner Glenn Murcutt, was published in London in 1993. Elizabeth now lives in Sydney with her partner and two children.