When the boy was almost eight, a woman stepped out of the elevator into the apartment on East Sixty-second Street and he recognized her straightaway. No one had told him to expect it. That was pretty typical of growing up with Grandma Selkirk . . . No one would dream of saying, Here is your mother returned to you.
His Illegal Self is the story of Che—raised in isolated privilege by his New York grandmother, he is the precocious son of radical student activists at Harvard in the late sixties. Yearning for his famous outlaw parents, denied all access to television and the news, he takes hope from his long-haired teenage neighbor, who predicts, They will come for you, man. They'll break you out of here.
Soon Che too is an outlaw: fleeing down subways, abandoning seedy motels at night, he is pitched into a journey that leads him to a hippie commune in the jungle of tropical Queensland. Here he slowly, bravely confronts his life, learning that nothing is what it seems. Who is his real mother? Was that his real father? If all he suspects is true, what should he do?
Never sentimental, His Illegal Self is an achingly beautiful story of the love between a young woman and a little boy. It may make you cry more than once before it lifts your spirit in the most lovely, artful, unexpected way.
His Illegal Self is the story of Che—raised in isolated privilege by his New York grandmother, he is the precocious son of radical student activists at Harvard in the late sixties. Yearning for his famous outlaw parents, denied all access to television and the news, he takes hope from his long-haired teenage neighbor, who predicts, They will come for you, man. They'll break you out of here.
Soon Che too is an outlaw: fleeing down subways, abandoning seedy motels at night, he is pitched into a journey that leads him to a hippie commune in the jungle of tropical Queensland. Here he slowly, bravely confronts his life, learning that nothing is what it seems. Who is his real mother? Was that his real father? If all he suspects is true, what should he do?
Never sentimental, His Illegal Self is an achingly beautiful story of the love between a young woman and a little boy. It may make you cry more than once before it lifts your spirit in the most lovely, artful, unexpected way.
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Used availability for Peter Carey's His Illegal Self
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Hardback Editions
July 2008 : Hardback
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 0-571-24521-8 / 978-0-571-24521-5 (UK edition) Publisher: Faber Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
March 2008 : Hardback
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 0-571-24385-1 / 978-0-571-24385-3 (UK edition) Publisher: Faber and Faber Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
February 2008 : Hardback
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 0-307-26372-X / 978-0-307-26372-8 (USA edition) Publisher: Knopf Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
February 2008 : Hardback
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 0-571-23153-5 / 978-0-571-23153-9 (UK edition) Publisher: Faber Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
February 2008 : Hardback
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 0-571-23151-9 / 978-0-571-23151-5 (UK edition) Publisher: Faber and Faber Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
February 2008 : Hardback
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 0-307-35656-6 / 978-0-307-35656-7 (USA edition) Publisher: Random House Canada Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Paperback Editions
March 2009 : Paperback
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 0-571-23154-3 / 978-0-571-23154-6 (UK edition) Publisher: Faber and Faber Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
February 2009 : Paperback
| Title: His Illegal Self (Vintage International) Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 0-307-27649-X / 978-0-307-27649-0 (USA edition) Publisher: Vintage Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
February 2009 : Paperback
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 0-307-35657-4 / 978-0-307-35657-4 (USA edition) Publisher: Vintage Canada Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
November 2008 : Paperback
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 1-74166-637-6 / 9781741666373 (Australia edition) Publisher: Vintage (Australia) Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
October 2008 : Paperback
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 0-571-23152-7 / 978-0-571-23152-2 (UK edition) Publisher: Faber Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
Audio Editions
February 2008 : Audio Cassette
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 1-4332-0918-7 / 978-1-4332-0918-5 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
February 2008 : Audio CD
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 1-4332-0919-5 / 978-1-4332-0919-2 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
February 2008 : Audio Cassette
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 1-4332-0920-9 / 978-1-4332-0920-8 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
February 2008 : Audio CD
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 1-4332-0921-7 / 978-1-4332-0921-5 Publisher: Blackstone Audio Inc. Availability: Amazon Amazon CA More details... |
February 2008 : Audio CD
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 0-571-24066-6 / 978-0-571-24066-1 (UK edition) Publisher: Faber and Faber Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
Other Editions
July 2008 : Unknown
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 1-60514-779-6 / 9781605147796 (USA edition) Publisher: Playaway Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
February 2008 : CD-ROM
| Title: His Illegal Self Author(s): Peter Carey ISBN: 1-4332-0922-5 / 978-1-4332-0922-2 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
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