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y separately published work icon The Fat Man in History selected work   short story  
Issue Details: First known date: 1980... 1980 The Fat Man in History
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Notes

  • The stories in this collection were first published in The Fat Man in History (UQP 1974) and War Crimes (UQP 1979).

Contents

* Contents derived from the London,
c
England,
c
c
United Kingdom (UK),
c
Western Europe, Europe,
:
Faber , 1980 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
The Fat Man in History, Peter Carey , single work short story

A short story set in a world where to be fat is to be counter-revolutionary and seen as greedy. Six fat men, ostracised from society, live together in one house and find some semblance of harmony. Hopeless, the only option to them seems to be to conform to society, until one of them suggests striking back at authority and the regime they live under. 

Peeling, Peter Carey , single work short story
Do You Love Me?, Peter Carey , single work short story
The Chance, Peter Carey , single work short story science fiction
The Puzzling Nature of Blue, Peter Carey , single work short story
Exotic Pleasures, Peter Carey , single work short story
The Last Days of a Famous Mime, Peter Carey , single work short story
A Windmill in the West, Peter Carey , single work short story
American Dreams, Peter Carey , single work short story
War Crimes, Peter Carey , single work short story
* Contents derived from the St Lucia, Indooroopilly - St Lucia area, Brisbane - North West, Brisbane, Queensland,:University of Queensland Press , 1990 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
The Fat Man in History, Peter Carey , single work short story

A short story set in a world where to be fat is to be counter-revolutionary and seen as greedy. Six fat men, ostracised from society, live together in one house and find some semblance of harmony. Hopeless, the only option to them seems to be to conform to society, until one of them suggests striking back at authority and the regime they live under. 

(p. 7-32)
Peeling, Peter Carey , single work short story (p. 33-43)
Do You Love Me?, Peter Carey , single work short story (p. 44-54)
The Chance, Peter Carey , single work short story science fiction (p. 55-90)
The Puzzling Nature of Blue, Peter Carey , single work short story (p. 91-112)
Exotic Pleasures, Peter Carey , single work short story (p. 113-134)
The Last Days of a Famous Mime, Peter Carey , single work short story (p. 135-139)
A Windmill in the West, Peter Carey , single work short story (p. 140-150)
American Dreams, Peter Carey , single work short story (p. 151-162)
War Crimes, Peter Carey , single work short story (p. 163-192)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Faber ,
      1980 .
      image of person or book cover 4363372483308667746.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 186p.
      ISBN: 0571116191
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Random House ,
      1980 .
      image of person or book cover 6406007913772652284.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Alternative title: The Fat Man in History, and Other Stories
      Extent: 186p.
      Note/s:
      • Contains the ten short stories detailed above
      ISBN: 0394510720
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Pan ,
      1981 .
      image of person or book cover 7597752385905854522.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 191p.
      Note/s:
      • Contains the ten short stories detailed above
      ISBN: 0330265504 (pbk)
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Vintage ,
      1993 .
      image of person or book cover 8318347374234589692.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Alternative title: The Fat Man in History and Other Stories
      Extent: 186p.
      Note/s:
      • Contains the ten short stories detailed above
      ISBN: 0679743324 (pbk.)
      Series: y separately published work icon Vintage International New York (City) : Vintage , 1993- 19532994 1993 series - publisher novel

      'William Faulkner, Philip Roth, Alice Munro, Thomas Mann, Doris Lessing, Albert Camus, V.S. Naipaul, Gabriel García Márquez, Salman Rushdie, Joan Didion, and Cormac McCarthy, among many others: Vintage International is devoted to publishing the best writing of the past century from the world over. Offering both classic and modern fiction and literary nonfiction in elegant editions, Vintage International aims to provide readers with world-class writing that has stood the test of time and essential works by the preeminent authors of today.'

      Source: Vintage.

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Penguin , 2020 .
      image of person or book cover 1761639990347978492.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 464p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 3rd March 2020
      ISBN: 9781760896560
Alternative title: Traumflug : fantast. Geschichten
Language: German
    • Tubingen,
      c
      Germany,
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Wunderlich ,
      1982 .
      image of person or book cover 6798803052763883454.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 236p.
      ISBN: 3805203551

Works about this Work

Into the Marketplace Keyvan Allahyari , 2023 single work criticism
— Appears in: Peter Carey : The Making of a Global Novelist 2023; (p. 31-53)

'This chapter aims to reconstruct the various economic and symbolic rewards of publishing Carey’s first collection of short stories, The Fat Man in History (1974). It offers a lateral examination of two interrelated aspects of Carey’s early fiction. It captures a continuum of Australian and transnational practices of literary distinction and advancement governing the success of the University of Queensland Press (UQP) and The Fat Man. These phenomena include the dominance of postmodern critique, governmental patronage of the Australian short story, and the termination of the Traditional Market Agreement. I explore the structural homologies between Carey’s position-takings in the literary field and the ways in which his characters engage with systems of cultural production and consumption. I then examine the evolution of Carey’s literary capital as his medium of publication shifts from literary magazines to UQP books and then onto prestigious international publishers such as Faber and Faber.' (Publication abstract)

What I’m Reading Nick Earls , 2017 single work column
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2017;
On Stealing Books : A Guilty Memoir Anonymous , 2014 single work prose
— Appears in: One Page : Brisbane , February/March vol. 1 no. 2/3 2014; (p. 5-6)
Peter Carey's Short Stories : Trapped in a Narrative Labyrinth Cornelia Schulze , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Fabulating Beauty : Perspectives on the Fiction of Peter Carey 2005; (p. 117-136)
Schulze considers situations of confinement in some of Carey's short stories, 'laying special emphasis on Carey's strategy of entrapping his readers in narrative labyrinths, a manoeuvre [seen as] having a didactic purpose: that of increasing one's awareness of linguistic manipulation' (Introduction to Fabulating Beauty xxx).
Finding Affection and Attachment When Orthodox Love is Withheld Veronica Sen , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times Sunday Times , 11 April 1999; (p. 18)

— Review of The Fat Man in History Peter Carey , 1980 selected work short story
A Whole In One, by Jeeves! Robin Lucas , 1990 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 22 September 1990; (p. 76)

— Review of A Body of Water : A Year's Notebook Beverley Farmer , 1990 selected work autobiography short story poetry diary ; The Fat Man in History Peter Carey , 1980 selected work short story
Celebrate UQP Revisionism John Knight , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: Social Alternatives , January vol. 18 no. 1 1999; (p. 84-85)

— Review of Johnno : A Novel David Malouf , 1975 single work novel ; The Moment Made Marvellous : A Celebration of UQP Poetry 1998 anthology poetry ; Celebration of the Senses Eric Rolls , 1984 selected work autobiography essay ; The Fat Man in History Peter Carey , 1980 selected work short story
Paperbacks Angela Bennie , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 27 February 1999; (p. 8)

— Review of The Fat Man in History Peter Carey , 1980 selected work short story
Finding Affection and Attachment When Orthodox Love is Withheld Veronica Sen , 1999 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times Sunday Times , 11 April 1999; (p. 18)

— Review of The Fat Man in History Peter Carey , 1980 selected work short story
Galactic Races Peter Ackroyd , 1980 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Times (London) , 19 October 1980;

— Review of The Fat Man in History Peter Carey , 1980 selected work short story
Peter Carey's Short Stories : Trapped in a Narrative Labyrinth Cornelia Schulze , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Fabulating Beauty : Perspectives on the Fiction of Peter Carey 2005; (p. 117-136)
Schulze considers situations of confinement in some of Carey's short stories, 'laying special emphasis on Carey's strategy of entrapping his readers in narrative labyrinths, a manoeuvre [seen as] having a didactic purpose: that of increasing one's awareness of linguistic manipulation' (Introduction to Fabulating Beauty xxx).
Reading Lesson: "The Fat Man in History," Teaching and Deconstructive Theory Greg Manning , 1985 single work criticism
— Appears in: Span , October no. 21 1985; (p. 38-55)
Peter Carey's Latest Gamble Greg Manning (interviewer), 1988 single work biography interview criticism
— Appears in: The Book Magazine , Winter vol. 2 no. 1 1988; (p. 3-6)
Peter Carey : A Portrait of Electricity Nigel Krauth , 1991 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , August no. 133 1991; (p. 18-19)
The Commonwealth Comeback Peter Quartermaine , 1982 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Times (Higher Education Supplement) , 12 February 1982; (p. 11)
Last amended 11 Jun 2020 11:08:54
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