Tags:
Journalism of Courage
PETER CAREY8217;S LAST NOVEL, My Life As A Fake, was a thrilling romp set around the Ern Malley affair, Australia8217;s celebrated literary fraud, and the question of authorship. Theft continues on the themes of authenticity, fraud and value. This time he tells the story of a divorced Australian painter who has just emerged from prison.
After being jailed for trying to steal his 8220;own8221; paintings from his wife8212;they had gone to her as part of the divorce settlement8212;Michael 8216;Butcher8217; Boone is now taking care of his wealthy patron8217;s New South Wales property. With him and in his care is his mentally chal-lenged brother Hugh, the other narrator of the novel. The brothers grew up in the small town of Bacchus Marsh in Australia where their father was a butcher. Michael might have con-tinued in the family profession if not for a German art teacher who saw his talent and urged him to leave.
One of the things I love about this novel is its effortless ability to switch between voices, something Carey always does with sublime ease. Many other things are not what they seem. A fake might not be a fake; an authenti-cated painting might be a fake; a work delibe-rately forged as we read might become a great work of art. Not unrelated to these questions is that of misrepresentation. Alison Summers, Carey8217;s ex-wife, has alleged that the character of Michael8217;s ex-wife, referred to in the novel as the 8220;alimony whore8221; and 8220;The Plaintiff8221;, is a misrepresentation of their acrimonious divorce. In an interview, she called this strategy 8220;emotional terrorism8221;.
Yet, The Plaintiff is a minor character in the story. At the heart of the novel is the far more interesting question of how art is produced.
