Summary
True History of the Kelly Gang (Vintage)
Peter Carey captures the fated life of the Australian outlaw-hero Ned Kelly in thrilling run-on sentences: the world looms up, sudden and alive in phrase after breathless phrase. Here, he talks about the evolution of this springing, spirited voice.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Funds for Bookworm are provided in part by Lannin Foundation. |
| 0:07.0 | You are a human animal. |
| 0:11.4 | You are a very special breed. |
| 0:15.1 | Or you are the only animal. |
| 0:18.5 | Who can think, who can reason, who can read. |
| 0:22.4 | From KCRW and KCRW.com, I'm Michael Silverblatt, and this is Bookworm. |
| 0:28.6 | Today, my guest is Peter Carey, one of only two writers ever to have won the prestigious |
| 0:33.8 | Booker Award twice. |
| 0:35.8 | His new novel is Parrott and Olivier in America, published by |
| 0:39.8 | Alfred A. Knopf. Parrot and Olivier in America is inspired by democracy in America by the French |
| 0:47.5 | writer Alexis de Tocqueville. Tocqueville came to America in 1831 and wrote his observations of American life. |
| 0:55.9 | It's thought to be one of the first great works of sociology and political science. |
| 1:01.1 | Peter Carey takes Tockville's journey and turns it into fiction, with a big difference. |
| 1:06.9 | Tocqueville was an aristocrat and talked mostly with other aristocrats. |
| 1:11.8 | His family was destroyed by the French Revolution. |
| 1:15.0 | He feared democracy and its effects. |
| 1:18.0 | Carrie calls him Olivier in this book and gives him a traveling companion, Parrot, |
| 1:23.5 | a servant, working class, who's been in prison in Australia |
| 1:27.1 | and who speaks for the parts of |
| 1:29.1 | American life that Olivier just can't see. Peter, tell us, what was it about Tocqueville that |
| 1:36.1 | attracted you? Well, you know, I'm Australian, but I'm also, I've got an American passport, |
| 1:43.1 | an Australian passport, I've been living in New York for 20 years. |
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