Illywhacker (SIGNED)
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Edition: First Edition.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Yellowed
Markings: Signed
Condition remarks: Boards in good condition. Binding remains tight. Clean text.
A sprawling, exuberant work of Australian literary fiction, Illywhacker chronicles the outrageous life of Herbert Badgery, a self-proclaimed liar and con man whose 139 years of adventures serve as a wildly satirical lens through which Peter Carey examines the myths, contradictions, and absurdities of Australian national identity. Badgery's tall tales wind through the twentieth century, touching on aviation pioneers, snake handlers, failed entrepreneurs, and the peculiar dreams of a young nation still grappling with its colonial past. Carey writes with a bold, carnivalesque energy, blending dark comedy with sharp political critique to argue that Australia itself was built on a foundation of grand deceptions and convenient fictions. The novel's tone is irreverent and richly comic, yet beneath the bravado lies a deeply felt meditation on love, failure, and the stories a country tells itself to survive. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Illywhacker stands as one of the great postmodern novels of the twentieth century, a masterwork of voice, invention, and audacious storytelling.
Author: Peter Carey
Format: Hardback
Published: 1985, University of Queensland Press
Edition: First Edition.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Yellowed
Markings: Signed
Condition remarks: Boards in good condition. Binding remains tight. Clean text.
A sprawling, exuberant work of Australian literary fiction, Illywhacker chronicles the outrageous life of Herbert Badgery, a self-proclaimed liar and con man whose 139 years of adventures serve as a wildly satirical lens through which Peter Carey examines the myths, contradictions, and absurdities of Australian national identity. Badgery's tall tales wind through the twentieth century, touching on aviation pioneers, snake handlers, failed entrepreneurs, and the peculiar dreams of a young nation still grappling with its colonial past. Carey writes with a bold, carnivalesque energy, blending dark comedy with sharp political critique to argue that Australia itself was built on a foundation of grand deceptions and convenient fictions. The novel's tone is irreverent and richly comic, yet beneath the bravado lies a deeply felt meditation on love, failure, and the stories a country tells itself to survive. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Illywhacker stands as one of the great postmodern novels of the twentieth century, a masterwork of voice, invention, and audacious storytelling.