'The volume explores Carey's position not only as a great entertainer but also as a disturbing postcolonial writer, setting his work in relation to his life and influences. Using previously neglected radio interviews among other documents, Woodcock sees Carey as a fictional shadow maker, whose characters often inhabit the unpredictable borderlands of experience. Commenting on the fabulist, surrealist and postmodernist elements, the author also stresses the political concerns of Carey's work... .' Targeting both students and general readers, the book provides 'detailed examinations of all Carey's major works as well as a survey of critical debates'.(Back cover 2nd ed.)