Order of Book Series
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Peter Carey Books in Order

Peter Carey has written 20 books, published between 1974 and 2017. The first book is The Fat Man In History / Exotic Pleasures (1974) and the newest is A Long Way From Home (2017). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
20
Published
1974–2017
Pages on record
5,869 in 18 of 20 books
Reading time
98–147 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,869 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 18 of 20 titles with a page count on record.

See all 20 books in order Printable Peter Carey checklist

Peter Carey, born in 1943, is an Australian novelist who has lived in New York City for over three decades. He is one of only five writers to have won the Booker Prize twice, taking it in 1988 for Oscar and Lucinda and in 2001 for True History of the Kelly Gang, and he was nominated for the Best of the Booker Prize in May 2008. Carey has won the Miles Franklin Award three times and is named often as Australia's next contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Twenty titles are catalogued from The Fat Man In History (1974) to A Long Way From Home (2017), including War Crimes (1979), Bliss (1981), Illywhacker (1985), The Tax Inspector (1991), The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994) and Jack Maggs (1997).

How many Peter Carey books are there?

Peter Carey has 20 books, released between 1974 and 2017.

Peter Carey Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 20 Peter Carey books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of The Fat Man In History / Exotic Pleasures by Peter Carey (1974)
  2. Cover of War Crimes by Peter Carey (1979)
  3. Cover of Bliss by Peter Carey (1981)
  4. Cover of Illywhacker by Peter Carey (1985)
  5. Cover of Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey (1988)
  6. Cover of The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith by Peter Carey (1994)
  7. Cover of Collected Stories by Peter Carey (1995)
  8. Cover of The Big Bazoohley by Peter Carey (1995)
  9. Cover of True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (2000)
  10. Cover of 30 Days in Sydney by Peter Carey (2001)
  11. Cover of Wrong About Japan by Peter Carey (2004)
  12. Cover of His Illegal Self by Peter Carey (2008)
  13. Cover of Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey (2009)
  1. 1
    The Fat Man In History / Exotic Pleasures1974 · 186 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1974186
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    War Crimes1979 · 294 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1979294
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Bliss1981 · 354 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981354
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Illywhacker1985 · 576 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985576
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    Oscar and Lucinda1988 · 544 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1988544
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    The Tax Inspector1991 · confirmed 2/4
    1991–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith1994 · 422 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1994422
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Collected Stories1995 · 353 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1995353
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The Big Bazoohley1995 · 132 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1995132
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Jack Maggs1997 · 357 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1997357
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    True History of the Kelly Gang2000 · 368 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2000368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    30 Days in Sydney2001 · 248 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2001248
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    My Life as a Fake2003 · 265 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2003265
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    Wrong About Japan2004 · 176 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2004176
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Theft2006 · 269 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2006269
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    His Illegal Self2008 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2008288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    Parrot and Olivier in America2009 · 381 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2009381
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Chemistry of Tears2012 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2012288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Amnesia2014 · confirmed 2/4
    2014–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    A Long Way From Home2017 · 368 pages · confirmed 2/4
    2017368
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Peter Carey books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Standalone books

20 books

20 Peter Carey titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Peter Carey books in order?

No. No source lists any of the 20 Peter Carey books here as part of a series. The numbered table above gives them by publication date.

Where to start with Peter Carey

Start with The Fat Man In History / Exotic Pleasures (1974), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Peter Carey book?

A Long Way From Home (2017) is the newest Peter Carey book released so far.

Is there a new Peter Carey book coming?

No next Peter Carey book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Peter Carey has won

Wikidata records 14 awards and 4 nominations for Peter Carey. The most recent 12 are listed here. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Peter Carey at a glance

No recent titles
The newest Peter Carey title on record dates from 2017, 9 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
Release pace
Peter Carey books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
5,869 pages across the 18 of 20 books with a recorded length, a median of 324 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Peter Carey books, 7 of 20, were published in the 2000s.

What the Peter Carey books are about

18 of the 20 Peter Carey books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: australia is tagged on 7 of 18. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.