Carey is one of the great story-tellers of our time, the kind who makes you take the phone off the hook, forget the television and ignore the doorbell.' Evening Standard
Illywhacker is a dazzling comic narrative, from the lips of the 139-year-old Herbert Badgery, the 'illywhacker' or confidence trickster of the title. Overflowing with magic, jokes and inventions, peopled with aviators, car salesmen, Chinamen and impresarios, Peter Carey's novel is a contemporary classic.