Peter Carey on James Frey, hoaxes and other literary matters

The Bookseller’s Benedicte Page caught up with the award-winning Australian writer as he prepares to launch his newest novel, THEFT: A LOVE STORY. And since she spoke to him on the heels of L’Affaire Frey, it’s not surprising he had some choice words on the matter:

“It’s trite to say it, but the US is a country run by liars going to war on a fantasy, so it’s interesting to see people getting self-righteous about James Frey. And by the way, if you’re going to publish a memoir by an addict in rehab, everyone knows that one of the corollaries of addiction is lying. So I don’t see why everyone gets into such a fucking uproar because an addict is a liar! Oprah acted like a total bully: talk about about crushing a butterfly on a wheel–or a cockroach on a wheel– because that’s what she did on television to this little creep.”

What about his own interest in hoaxes, as explored in his last novel MY LIFE AS A FAKE? “There is this whole issue for Australia of being on the periphery and having no cultural authority, of cultural authority being determined elsewhere–in New York or in London–and Australians have taken huge pleasure in undermining that authority and proving it wrong.”

And though Carey has been living in New York for over 15 years, he does envision a time he’ll return to his native soil, calling his time a “moral holiday.”

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