I've had to send the book by mail order from Ireland, of all places. In the end I just went into bookshops to shame them. I walked the city on Friday looking for a copy of this book. This isn't a book by What's His Face No Name - this is Bliss by Peter Carey! What other nation does this to their authors? Really, I'm quite ashamed about this. BUT, and I struggle to believe this is true, this book is out of print in Australia. My friend leaves next week and I thought it would be nice to send over a book with him to the honey collector. So - a friend of mine is going to Greece soon and a friend of his collects honey and I tried some and told her it was the nicest honey I had ever tried (which was true - no exaggeration at all). In the years since he has written My Life as a Fake, Theft, His Illegal Self and Parrot and Oliver in America (shortlisted for 2010 Man Booker Prize). In 2003 he joined Hunter College as the Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing. He collaborated on the screenplay of the film Until the End of the World with Wim Wenders. During these years he wrote The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith, Jack Maggs, and True History of the Kelly Gang for which he won his second Booker Prize.

Later he would have similar jobs at Princeton, The New School and Barnard College. In 1990 he moved to New York where he completed The Tax Inspector. Uncomfortable with this success he began work on The Tax Inspector. Illywhacker was short listed for the Booker Prize. It was during this period that he wrote War Crimes, Bliss, Illywhacker, Oscar and Lucinda. Thus between 19, he was able to pursue literature obsessively. This slim book made him an overnight success.įrom 1976 Carey worked one week a month for Grey Advertising, then, in 1981 he established a small business where his generous partner required him to work only two afternoons a week. He was nineteen.įor the next thirteen years he wrote fiction at night and weekends, working in many advertising agencies in Melbourne, London and Sydney.Īfter four novels had been written and rejected The Fat Man in History - a short story collection - was published in 1974. He was then employed by an advertising agency where he began to receive his literary education, meeting Faulkner, Joyce, Kerouac and other writers he had previously been unaware of.

In 1961 he studied science for a single unsuccessful year at Monash University. He was a student there between 19 - after Rupert Murdoch had graduated and before Prince Charles arrived. He was educated at the local state school until the age of eleven and then became a boarder at Geelong Grammar School.

Peter Carey was born in Australia in 1943. Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Peter carey bliss review