Booker Prize Winner
True History of the Kelly Gang
by Peter Carey
Summary
Carey ventriloquises the voice of the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly, presenting the novel as a stash of letters written by Kelly to the daughter he will never meet. The unpunctuated, near illiterate vernacular gives the bushranger's life a raw immediacy, blending myth, grievance, and tenderness. It is at once a folk epic and an interrogation of how nations build heroes from outlaws.
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Historical Context & Significance
Carey joined Coetzee as a writer who has won twice; the novel is lauded for its visceral Australian vernacular.