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2010 Longlist

His Illegal Self

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ABOUT
THE BOOK

His Illegal Self is the story of Che – raised in isolated privilege by his New York grandmother, he is the precocious son of radical student activists at Harvard in the late sixties. Yearning for his famous outlaw parents, denied all access to television and the news, he takes hope from his long-haired, teenage neighbour who predicts: They will come for you, man. They’ll break you out of here.
Soon Che too is an outlaw; fleeing down subways, abandoning seedy motels at night, he is pitched into a journey that leads him to a hippy commune in the jungle of tropical Queensland. Here he slowly, bravely confronts his life, learning that nothing is what it seems. Who is his real mother? Was that his real father? If all he suspects is true, what should he do?
Never sentimental, His Illegal Self is an achingly beautiful story of the love between a young woman and a little boy. It may make you cry more than once before it lifts your spirit in the most lovely, artful, unexpected way.

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Peter
Carey

Peter Carey was born in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, and now lives in New York. He is the author of fourteen novels (including one for children), two volumes of short stories, and two books on travel. Amongst other prizes, Carey has won the Booker Prize twice (for Oscar and Lucinda and The True History of the Kelly Gang), the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize twice (for Jack Maggs and The True History of the Kelly Gang), and the Miles Franklin Literary Award three times (for Bliss, Oscar and Lucinda and Jack Maggs).

Peter Carey was born in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, and now lives in New York. He is the author of fourteen novels (including one for children), two volumes of short stories, and two books on travel. Amongst other prizes, Carey has won the Booker Prize twice (for Oscar and Lucinda and The True History of the Kelly Gang), the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize twice (for Jack Maggs and The True History of the Kelly Gang), and the Miles Franklin Literary Award three times (for Bliss, Oscar and Lucinda and Jack Maggs).

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NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS

Set in the USA and Australia in the 1970’s, this novel is a telling portrait of the 60’s and 70’s counterculture in both societies and the effects on individual and family life. It is a wonderful novel of place.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
Australia
Original Language
English
Author
Publisher
Knopf Australia, Faber & Faber

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