{"product_id":"2026100007886-secondhand-illywhacker","title":"Illywhacker","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good. Jacket: Worn\/faded - no tears. Page Condition: yellowed. Markings: No markings. Usual shelf-wear. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt 139 years old, Herbert Badgery — liar, charmer, and self-proclaimed illywhacker (Australian slang for a small-time confidence trickster) — recounts a life lived at the chaotic, contradictory heart of Australian history, weaving a sprawling, picaresque narrative that spans the twentieth century. Peter Carey's second novel chronicles the misadventures of Badgery and his colourful descendants across a newly federated nation, from outback aeroplanes to pet shops, unravelling a bawdy, outrageous saga that doubles as a sly, subversive meditation on Australian identity and the myths nations tell about themselves.\n\nCarey writes with exuberant invention and savage wit, crafting a novel that is at once a family saga, a postmodern fable, and a grand act of literary ventriloquism. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1985, Illywhacker stands as one of the landmark works of Australian literature — a book that asks, with irresistible mischief, whether the entire nation is built on nothing more than the art of the con.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49130629431515,"sku":"2026100007886-SECONDHAND","price":15.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/7cc59bd8-cef2-404b-8135-9152ee5c3925.png?v=1786587983","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026100007886-secondhand-illywhacker","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}