Parrot and Olivier in America

Olivier is an aristocrat, the traumatized child of survivors of the French Revolution. Parrot the son of an itinerant printer who always wanted to be an artist but has ended up a servant. Born on different sides of history, their lives will be brought together by their travels in America. When Olivier sets sail for America, ostensibly to study its prisons but in reality to save his neck from one more revolution - Parrot is sent with him, as spy, protector, foe and foil. As the narrative shifts between the perspectives of Parrot and Olivier, and their picaresque travels together and apart - in love and politics, prisons and the world of art - Peter Carey explores the adventure of American democracy, in theory and in practice, with dazzling wit and inventiveness.

Peter Carey was born in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria and now lives in New York. He is the author of twelve previous novels, three short story collections and two books on travel. Among other prizes, he has won the Booker Prize twice, the Commonwealth Writers Prize twice and the Miles Franklin Literary Award three times.