The Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction: Winner 2006

Judges report

The judges admired the sheer bravura of Carey’s tragic love story and the broad scope of the comic vision that informs it. The brutal lyricism of the dialogue between the once-famous artist Butcher Bones and his damaged brother Hugh engages effortlessly in conversation about identity and authenticity with multiple works of art and literature while carrying a poignant story of love between two brothers. The language is bold and visceral: by turns coarse and poetic. Its cultural references are unashamedly parochial, yet it positions Australia on the world stage with a knowing wink towards its colonial insecurities.