Kell and the Gang

PETER CAREY, TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG (2001)

‘I think they only gave it to me out of sympathy because they know I’ve never won the Booker’ – Beryl Bainbridge on being made a Dame of the British Empire in 2001

Peter Carey was born in Australia in 1943. True History of the Kelly Gang was his second Booker winner: the first was Oscar and Lucinda in 1988; Illywhacker was shortlisted in 1985.

Editions:

Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang, (London: Faber and Faber, 2001).

2001 Shortlist:

Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang
Ian McEwan, Atonement
Andrew Miller, Oxygen
David Mitchell, number9dream
Rachel Seiffert, The Dark Room
Ali Smith, Hotel World

2001 Judges:

Kenneth Baker (chair), Michele Roberts, Kate Summerscale, Philip Hensher, Prof. Rory Watson

Topics:

• The Booker Prize and the ‘Two Horse Race’.
• Australia: Fact and Fiction.
• History and Venriloquy.

Reviews:

Robert Edric, ‘Remaking Ned’, (6 January 2001)The Guardian
Jane Rogers, ‘Remaking the Myth’, The Observer, (7 January 2001)

Ruth Scurr, ‘One Mother’s Son’, The Times, (10 January 2001)

John de Falbe, ‘The Reluctant Outlaw’, The Spectator, (13 January 2001)
Kathy Marks, ‘Hero or Villain?’, Independent, (19 November 2001)
D J Taylor, 'A ventriloquist's tale', New Statesmen (8 January 2001)

Further Reading:

Ian McEwan, Atonement, (London: Jonathan Cape, 2001). Though reading any of the shortlisted novels listed in this booklet would be a useful exercise, Atonement is a special case, because it won the first ‘People’s Booker’, voted for by members of the general public, thereby opening up a whole new can of worms: possibly in response, the 2001 judges broke sharply with tradition to give explanations as to why they hadn’t awarded the prize to McEwan.