Random House, Australia; Faber & Faber, UK; Alfred A. Knopf, USA; Random House of Canada

Presenting fiction and fakery at many levels, this story chronicles the journey of Sarah Wode-Douglass, editor of a London poetry magazine, who accompanies the famous John Slater on a trip to Malaysia. From there, she travels to Kuala Lumpur where she meets by chance a destitute Australian – who is perhaps a mad genius, but who, in any case, teases Sarah with a manuscript that she is desperate to acquire. Carey weaves stories within a story, poking fun at literary pretension, exploring artistic obsession, and questioning what is or is not authentic in the creation of fiction.

Peter Carey is a two-time winner of the Man Booker Prize for The True History of the Kelly Gang and for Oscar and Lucinda. He is the author of seven previous novels and a collection of stories. He was born in Australia in 1943 and now lives in New York City.