Scenes as vivid as any movie. The men and women in this book were equally strong and fleshed out. Requires a second reading to appreciate fully. ( )

Wow. What a wild finish. Who could have guessed it? Became increasingly bizarre. Not sure if it involves the supernatural or not. Great read, though. A brilliant book. ( )

This is the memoir of a character reminiscent of "Little Big Man" as written by John Irving. I should call this a pseudomemoir because Illywhacker is written from the perspective of an autobiography of a person that does not exist anywhere outside the pages of the book. The title is apparently Australian slang for what in America we would call a con man: a liar, a confidence man, a seller of get rich quick schemes. Despite Herbert Badgery being a consummate liar, he has a big heart and we feel sorry for him in all his misadventures.

Peter Carey, the author of this wonderful book, has a lyrical pen that does wonders bringing the off beat characters to life. This applies equally to his human characters, Herbert Badgery, the ancient narrator of the entire tale, Leah Goldstein, one of his love interests and a Communist Activist / Dancer, to name just two, and a goanna, an Australian Monitor Lizard, that has an integral part in the story. Carey plays on the national pride of Australians, takes pot shots at American industry and in general, pokes fun at just about everything, especially marriage and the process of aging, though not necessarily the two together.

While the Australian slang may be puzzling to some readers, the richness of the scenes makes it easy to figure out the meanings. It may take a while to get through, but it is very much worth the read, so much so that I now want to explore more works by Peter Carey. ( )

I love Peter Carey and this was the first of his novels I read. It has one of the funniest sex scenes ever written (the one on the roof). I love male writers that can write decent female characters. ( )