Rating: 
Summary: My Life as a Fake
Review: *My Life as a Fake* is, in the main, the story of unsuccessful poet Christopher Chubb, an Australian whose life is forever marred by a literary hoax he perpetrated in his youth. Chubb invented a deceased poet by the name of Bob McCorkle and passed off McCorkle's poetry--his own work, of course--on an unsuspecting editor whose ignorance Chubb wished to expose. (The story is based on a real-life literary hoax, the similar invention of a certain Ern Malley in the 1940s.) When he first appears in the story, Chubb's stint as literary hoaxer is long behind him. He is filthy and destitute and quite possibly mad, employed as a bicycle mechanic on a cramped street in Kuala Lumpur. He is discovered there by Sarah Wode-Douglass, the editor of a London poetry magazine, to whom Chubb spins out the unlikely story of his post-hoax life. Wode-Douglass in turn relates Chubb's story to us:The creature of Chubb's imagination, the fictional Bob McCorkle, was--or so Chubb was led to believe by the creature itself--given flesh by Chubb's pen. That is to say, someone who fit the description of Chubb's manufactured poet entered Chubb's life claiming to be the flesh-and-blood product of the hoaxer's fiction. Who or what this man is in fact is never fully explained. Whatever he is, the McCorkle creature endeavors, successfully, to destroy his alleged creator's life. The story of Chubb's ruin involves all manner of cruelties, but chief among them is McCorkle's kidnapping of Chubb's infant daughter, a crime which determines Chubb's unhappy future. The better part of *My Life as a Fake* is narrated by Chubb to Sarah Wode-Douglass. Within Chubb's narrative, moreover, are remembered conversations, sometimes lengthy stories, which Chubb now recounts. But while much of the book might justly have been encased in quotation marks, there is not a single such punctuation mark to be found in the text. The result is not as confusing as one might expect, though direct and indirect discourse blend together into an inseparable mass of speech. Chubb's language, meanwhile, is often difficult to understand, an Australian English tinged with the expressions and verbal tics of his adopted country. One reads the book increasingly curious to discover how Chubb came to be in his current situation, repairing bikes in Kuala Lumpur, but the read is not a wholly pleasant one. Chubb's' convoluted story is interesting, but its narration leaves one with numerous questions, not least of which involves the true nature and motivation of McCorkle. The story of Wode-Douglass, too, which frames Chubb's' tale--her reasons for being in Kuala Lumpur, her interest in a collection of poetry by the monster McCorkle, her relationship with Englishman John Slater, her companion on the trip--seems in the end to have been largely unnecessary. Too little, in particular, is made of the character of Slater, a likeable rogue who is put to little use in the story. Carey's novel is indeed bold and imaginative, but the truth in it is uncomfortably elusive.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Fun
Review: Christopher Chubb, a mediocre poet working as an advertising copywriter, commits a hoax to show that a rival with money who is getting ahead in the literary world has no real taste. In doing so, he claims to write sham poetry by one Bob McCorkle, a working class poet, that contains, say, instructions from military manuals presented as blank verse. Then, a fierce strange man, Chubb claims, assumes the identity of this hoax poet and actually transforms himself into a naturalist/poet who may have genius. This is a fascinating tale, with Christopher Chubb explaining how this single jealous act, which was meant to reveal the shallowness of a rival, transformed his life. By the way, the tale offers as many as four characters whose lives may be fakes-that is, who lack true accomplishment or genuine poetic talent. Part of the fun is determining who is a fake and why. Beautifully written and highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Finding the Real Amidst Words
Review: Following from Carey's hugely successful True History of the Kelly Gang, the author plucks another charismatic figure from history to reform in his fiction. This time he has taken the Ern Malley hoax and rewritten it using a bounty of sumptuous detail. In the 1940s a couple of writers sought to play a joke on the surrealist movement of the time. Their hoax got out of hand. They composed poetry using a mixture of their own original work, Shakespeare, a rhyming dictionary and a US army report. However, it was taken seriously, published and then caused a scandal because the content of the work was considered indecent. In many ways the editor who first received the work considered that the fake poet really did come to life. Stemming from this thought, Carey creates the story of Christopher Chubb who similarly sets up a literary hoax. This time, the fictional poet really does come to life. The narrator of My Life is a Fake is the English poetry editor Sarah Wode-Douglass. She travels to Kuala Lumpur on the invitation of her acquaintance, the poet John Slater, with whom she has a long and complicated past. By accident she meets Chubb who is working in a bicycle repair shop. He gives her a glimpse of a poem by the poet he created named McCorkle. Sarah is desperate to retrieve this poet's work to make her own claim to fame. However, first she must hear the whole gruesome story behind it. It is a complicated affair leading Sarah and the reader to wonder what is real and what is fake. McCorkle comes to life and discredits Chubb's own life. Not only is Chubb's past revealed, but through conversations Slater Sarah's own past is examined. Another fake is revealed. Carey does a magnificent job at evoking the environment of Kuala Lumpur in this time period. He creates a thrilling story despite its complicated plot. As the story progresses it becomes confusing who exactly is narrating the story. This fight to be heard seems to be the point because the spotlight is the object of desire for which the characters' manic ambition is set. Lies are the fuel used to gain entry into it. Each character struggles to make their lies sound the most convincing. It is the reader's delightful job to sift through for the truth.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't know what to make of it
Review: I enjoyed all the parts of this novel, but in the end didn't know what to make of it. The writing is excellent, the individual characters, intriguing. But I was glad to finish reading, having felt as if trapped in a giant web. Recommended for those who favor top notch storytelling and are willing to be puzzled.
Rating: 
Summary: Really Tried
Review: I really tried to like this book better, but I simply couldn't get past the excruciating tediousness of the first 200 pages. I couldn't connect with any of the characters, and the theme of author as creator has been done much better, especially by Paul Auster. Furthermore, Mr. Carey seems to be fixated on reviving fictional/non-fictional people as characters, and after three books, this approach becomes boring.
Rating:
Summary: Frankenstein redux with a twist
Review: I was not particularly impressed by Peter Carey's Booker winning Oscar and Lucinda or his True History of the Kelly Gang, but I think My Life as a Fake has ought to be Carey's best work to date.
Briefly, the story can be described as a 21st century retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein classic, but it is so much more than that. The story starts off with a young editor, Sarah, of a third-rate literary magazine who flew to Malaysia on the persuasion of an old family friend John Slater. There, she met an impoverished, 'exiled' Australian by the name of Christopher Chubb who held a volume of poems that will save the career of the young editor. From then on, Chubb relate a story of how he came into possession of these poems. As a young poet, Chubb failed to get himself published while his best friend, whom he considered less talented later become a hack editor for a magazine. Feeling jealous, Chubb created a fictitious persona by the name of Bob McCorkle and submitted a series of'obscene' poetry to David under the fictitious name. But the naive David failed to see the hoax and published the poetry, and he was later tried for publishing obscenity. At the trial, a Bob McCorkle showed up and demanded that Chubb give him a history and identity since he has created him. From that point on, we are taken on a wild ride as Chubb travelled half around the world to find McCorkle who has kidnapped Chubb's daughter.
Aside from Chubb's account of events, we also get John Slater's account of what transpired. Just what is John's relationship to Chubb? Is there really a Bob McCorkle or is it all from Chubb's imagination? Who is the real author of the great poems that Chubb possessed? Is Chubb telling the truth or is his life story just another hoax? Carey has successfully spurned a mystery tale full of riddles that won't revealed itself until the end.
Rating: 
Summary: My Life as a Fake
Review: I'm sorry, but I just could not finish this book (something I haven't done in probably ten years), so maybe it's not fair that I'm offering an opinion. In any case, after the first 100 or so pages, I found that I did not care a bit about any of the characters and I found the protagonist to be particularly unlikable. Maybe if you are really interested in poetry and poets, the developing intrigue may interest you, but I'm not, so it didn't.
Rating:
Summary: My Life as a Fake
Review: I'm sorry, but I just could not finish this book (something I haven't done in probably ten years), so maybe it's not fair that I'm offering an opinion. In any case, after the first 100 or so pages, I found that I did not care a bit about any of the characters and I found the protagonist to be particularly unlikable. Maybe if you are really interested in poetry and poets, the developing intrigue may interest you, but I'm not, so it didn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Good writing but no clear resolution. Disappointing.
Review: Loosely based on a real incident that happened in Australia many years ago, the author took the concept and ran with it to create his own literary work, one that plays with the reader's credibility. This novel is about a hoax. It's starts when Susan Wode-Douglas, an editor of a London poetry magazine, travels to Kuala Lampur with an old family friend, John Slater, who she suspects of being her mother's ex-lover and the cause of her suicide. It's an unpleasant holiday in many ways, but then she comes in contact with Christopher Chubb, a middle-aged Australian man, working as a bike mechanic and having an incredible story to tell. John Slater warns her about Chubb but she's fascinated because he shows her a piece of poetry that wins her heart immediately Of course she must then listen to his outrageous story, which might or might not be true. It's a story of double-crossings and suicide and horror that goes on and on. She hears of a beautiful woman and a baby girl and a kidnapping. She hears of physical discomfort and fear and loneliness and suffering of the soul. Chubb tells her how he created a literary icon in order to play a practical joke on a colleague. Then this supposedly imagined literary figure came to life. Is Christopher Chubb insane? She can't really tell and neither could I. The best part of the book is the descriptions of the people. The author has a knack for making me feel every bit of sweat that comes off of a forehead, and gives meaning to every crinkle of an eyebrow. The search for the perfect piece of poetry seemed silly to me. But the obsession of our heroine did not. She becomes a fanatic herself as she goes after her prize, which would be the one copy of a hand-written book of poetry from the now mythical figure. The problem with the book is that there was no clear resolution. I did get involved and wanted to keep reading. But then I was disappointed at the end. So in spite good writing, I cannot recommend this to anyone but the most dedicated literary mavens.
Rating:
Summary: Murder, Mayhem and a Literary Hoax!
Review: Mr. Carey spins quite a yarn here. Sarah Wode-Douglas, the editor of a poetry magazine in London, travels to Malaysia with one John Slater a writer a little like Truman Capote without the mincing-- that is, he is more famous for being a famous writer than for writing--a man she thinks had an affair with her mother and is responsible for her death. There they meet a Christopher Chubb, an aging Australian. Chubb tells a story that has shades of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, Joseph's HEART OF DARKNESS, Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and is as convoluted as The DA VINCI CODE. Central to the story is a literary hoax based on an incident that actually took place in Australia, according to the Author's Note at the end of this fairly short novel. (266 pages)You may not care a whit about poetry, pretentious intellectuals or literary hoaxes; on the other hand, you will race through this novel with the speed you read any first rate mystery. I had no abiding love for any of these characters but was fascinated by this great tale. Mr. Carey is nothing is not a master of the language, should I say Australian. There are nice Australian touches: "he said he would give me a hiding if I did not get off his irises straight away" and "I therefore was forced to take shank's pony to the city but I am used to walking. . ." Surely Carey is saying something about literary criticism, which can be one of the world's most pretentious endeavors. There is the question of what is real and what isn't and how significant is poetry after all? Sarah, the first person narrator, opines that there is no value that can be put on fine poetry: ". . . but what price would I put on a Shakespeare sonnet? How much for Milton, Donne, Coleridge, Yeats?" W. H. Auden, whom Slater knew, is quoted in the novel. I remember, however, that Auden said that "poetry makes nothing happen." Hey, I don't believe you have to be an English major to like this novel. Query: since Mr. Carey now lives in New York City, do we get to claim him as an American writer? I recall that he wrote a very beautiful and moving piece after September 11, 2001 about "feeling" like an American.
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