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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith
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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith Paperback - 1996

by Peter Carey

The Booker Prize-winning author of Oscar and Lucinda and The Tax Inspector now gives readers a hero, the malformed but ferociously wilful Tristan Smith, who becomes the object of the world's byzantine political intrigues, even as he attains stardom in a bizarre Sirkus that is part passion play and part Mortal Kombat.


From the publisher

From a writer whom Thomas Keneally calls "one of the great figures on the cusp of the millennium" comes a novel that conjures an entire world that suggests our own, but tilted on its axis--a world whose most powerful country, Voorstand, dominates its neighbors with ruthless espionage and its mesmerizing but soul-destroying Sirkus. Into that world comes Tristan Smith, a malformed, heroically willful, and unforgivingly observant child. Tristan's life includes adventure and loss, political intrigue, and a bizarre stardom in the Voorstand Sirkus, where animals talk and human performers die real deaths. The result is a visionary picaresque, staggering in its inventions, spellbinding in its suspense, and unabashedly moving.

Details

  • Title The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith
  • Author Peter Carey
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition LATER PRINTING
  • Pages 432
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Vintage, New York, New York, U.S.A.
  • Date 1996-01-30
  • ISBN 9780679760368 / 0679760369
  • Weight 0.77 lbs (0.35 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.08 x 5.3 x 0.94 in (20.52 x 13.46 x 2.39 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Imaginary places, Picaresque literature
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 94078479
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

"Irresistible...intimate and theatrical...supple and surprising.... We're in the hands of a master storyteller." —Carol Shields, author of The Stone Diaries

"Carey has vaulted to the top ranks of writers in the English-speaking world.... Tristan has an appeal that transcends geography." —Newsday

"Carey's always magical, absolutely lovable narrative voice makes The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith an important contribution to contemporary fiction.... No matter what he decides to write or how he decides to write it, it's a priviledge to read him." —Carolyn See, Washington Post Book World

"Savage and hilarious...dazzling." —The New York Review of Books

Citations

  • New York Times, 02/04/1996, Page 24
  • Publishers Weekly, 01/01/1996, Page 69

About the author

PETER CAREY is the author of thirteen previous novels. In addition to the Booker Prize, his honors include the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and the Miles Franklin Literary Award. Born in Australia, he has lived in New York City for more than twenty-five years.
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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith: A Novel
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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith: A Novel

by Carey, Peter

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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith
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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith

by Carey, Peter

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780679760368 / 0679760369
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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith
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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith

by Carey, Peter

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The Unusual Life Of Tristan Smith

The Unusual Life Of Tristan Smith

by Peter Carey

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Unusual Life of Tristan Smith

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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith
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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith

The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith

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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith
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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith
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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith

by Peter Carey

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith
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The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith

by Carey, Peter

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780679760368 / 0679760369
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