Carey, Peter (1943-…), an Australian writer, has won international acclaim for his novels and short stories. His work is noted for its subtle combination of humor and social satire. It is also known for its use of exaggeration and the grotesque.
Carey was born on May 7, 1943, in Bacchus Marsh, Australia. He was educated at Melbourne’s Monash University, where he studied science. After leaving the university, he embarked on a highly successful advertising career in Melbourne and London. His first collection of stories, The Fat Man in History, was published in 1974. The title story traces the plight of a fat man after a revolution has outlawed obesity. Carey’s next book was another collection of short stories, War Crimes (1979). Carey’s Collected Stories was published in 1995.
Carey’s first novel, Bliss (1981), gained him several awards. In 1985, Carey published his second novel, Illywacker, which relates the history of Australia through the story of Herbert Badgery, a 139-year-old confidence man. His next work, Oscar and Lucinda (1988), firmly established Carey’s international reputation. This story of the Reverend Oscar Hopkins’s extraordinary plan to float a glass church down an Australian river won Carey the Booker Prize, the United Kingdom’s best-known literary award. The novel successfully combines Australian history of the 1800’s with a fantastic realm where Aboriginal and Christian mythology blend. The Tax Inspector (1991) is set in Sydney during the 1990’s. The Unusual Life of Tristran Smith (1994) is a fantastical allegory about relations between the United States and Australia. Set in London during the 1800’s, Jack Maggs (1997) was inspired by the character Abel Magwitch in Great Expectations, a novel by the English writer Charles Dickens.
Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang (2000) is a historical novel supposedly narrated by Ned Kelly, the most famous Australian outlaw of the 1800’s. The novel won Carey his second Booker Prize (at that time called the Man Booker Prize). The historical novel My Life As a Fake (2003) is based on a celebrated literary hoax in Australia during the 1940’s. Theft: A Love Story (2006) is a distinctive blend of romance and an international crime investigation involving two Australian brothers. His Illegal Self (2008) tells about an American boy who is taken to live in a remote Australian outpost. Parrot and Olivier in America (2009) is a historical novel based on the travels of French writer Alexis de Tocqueville in the United States during the early 1800’s. The Chemistry of Tears (2012) combines stories set in London during the 1800’s and from 2010 to 2019. Amnesia (2015) explores Australian history since World War II (1939-1945) through the lives of an Australian actress and her daughter. A Long Way from Home (2018) is an exuberant comic novel set in Australia in 1954 that describes three Australians participating in a wild automobile race that covers much of the country.
Carey has also written travel books. 30 Days in Sydney: A Wildly Distorted Account (2001) describes a visit to Sydney. Wrong About Japan: A Father’s Journey with His Son (2005) tells about Carey’s visit to Japan with his 12-year-old son.
