彼得，凱裏(Peter Carey，1943— )是澳大利亞當代著名作傢。迄今為止，他已經齣版七部長篇小說、多部兒童文學作品和短篇小說集。這些作品大都獲得澳大利亞曆年最重要的文學奬項。其中，長篇小說《幸福》(Bliss，1981)獲邁爾斯·弗蘭剋林奬。一九八五年這部小說被改編成電影後，一舉奪得包括“最佳故事片奬”在內的澳大利亞電影三項大奬。一九八八年齣版的長篇小說《奧斯卡與露辛達》(Oscar ＆ Lucindar)獲英國最高文學奬項布剋奬和邁爾斯·弗蘭剋林奬。而《凱利幫真史》(True History of the Kelly Gang，2000)一經齣版便引起轟動，二00一年同時獲得英國布剋奬和英聯邦文學奬。在英國文學和英聯邦文學中，同一個作傢兩次獲得布剋奬的現象是不多見的。

彼得·凱裏齣生在澳大利亞維多利亞州一個普通人傢，其父是汽車推銷員。他畢業於濛納西大學，學的是自然科學，但是他酷愛寫作，畢業後先後在澳大利亞和倫敦多傢廣告公司工作。廣告公司獨特的、充滿開拓精神的氛圍給瞭他很大的影響。他和幾位同事，包括莫裏斯·盧裏和巴裏·奧剋利，後來都成瞭澳大利亞著名作傢。一九七四年，彼得·凱裏齣版瞭他的第一部短篇小說集《曆史上的胖子》(The Fat Man in History)，一舉成名。他的第二部短篇小說集《戰爭的罪惡》(War Crimes)一九七九年齣版後，好評如潮，一九八0年獲新南威爾士州總理文學奬。評論傢指齣：“他終於使澳大利亞文學走齣狹隘的地方主義角落，具有瞭新的廣泛性和復雜性。”他站在曆史的高度，滿懷神聖的使命感，潛心創作三十年，成為澳大利亞當代最受歡迎、最有成就的作傢之一。在澳大利亞，人們普遍認為，他是堪與博爾赫斯、加西亞·馬爾剋斯以及唐納德·巴塞爾姆媲美的文學大師，是繼帕特裏剋·懷特之後屈指可數的有特色、有深度的澳大利亞作傢之一。

True History of the Kelly Gang is a historical novel by Australian writer Peter Carey. It was first published in Brisbane by the University of Queensland Press in 2000. It won the 2001 Man Booker Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize in the same year. Despite its title, the book is fiction and a variation on the Ned Kelly story.

Product Description

In a dazzling act of ventriloquism, Peter Carey gives Ned Kelly a voice so wild, passionate and original that it is impossible not to believe that the famous bushranger himself is speaking from beyond the grave. True History of the Kelly Gang is the song of Australia, and it sings its protest in a voice at once crude and delicate, menacing and heart-wrenching. Carey gives us Ned Kelly as orphan, as Oedipus, as horse thief, farmer, bushranger, reformer, bank-robber, police-killer and, finally, as his country's beloved Robin Hood.

In an effort to attract foreign readers to the story, the book's American publisher, Alfred Knopf, heralded the book as a "great American novel", even though the novel takes place entirely within Australia. The claim that this book is an "American novel" appears to be based on the fact that author Peter Carey, an Australian, has lived in New York for many years.