The Tax Inspector [Paperback]

Peter Carey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 1993

Granny Catchprice runs her family business (and her family) with senility, cunning, and a handbag full of explosives. Her daughter Cathy would rather be singing Country & Western than selling cars, while Benny Catchprice, sixteen and seriously psychopathic, wants to transform a failing auto franchise into an empire—and himself into an angel. Out of the confrontation between the Catchprices and their unwitting nemesis, a beautiful and very pregnant agent of the Australian Taxation Office, Peter Carey, author of Oscar and Lucinda, creates an endlessly surprising and fearfully convincing novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Carey tale about a family of bizarre misfits who run a scruffy auto dealership in a suburb of Sydney.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The Catchprices of suburban Sydney, Australia are a family in disarray. Their lives are centered around an auto dealership on the verge of collapse despite their fiddling with the books. No one but 16-year-old Benny really cares, and Benny is a psychotic living in a dingy cellar to avoid his father, a one-time child molester. Benny is determined to transform himself, via an expensive set of motivational tapes, a fancy new suit, and use of a depilatory, into the world's greatest car salesman and thus to save the business. His vision, however, is threatened by the arrival of tax inspector Maria Takis, so he sets out in his own warped way to induce her to drop the investigation. This is more than just Benny's story, however. It concerns an entire family coming apart at the seams, plagued by its own history and the frustration of unfulfilled dreams. Carey's greatest strength lies in his characterizations, in his ability to expose the complexity of human experience and see the victim within the victimizer. Disturbing yet alluring, this is highly recommended for collections of serious fiction.
- David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; First edition. edition (January 4, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679735984
• ISBN-13: 978-0679735984
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,827,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A maelstrom of stories combine in a darkly comic yarn., January 28, 1999

By 

Margaret Fiore - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tax Inspector (Paperback)

Another totally unpredictable masterpiece by Peter Carey. Poor Maria, young, intelligent, beautiful, and gifted so far in her life with financial/career success, is thrust into juxtaposition with the Catchprice family when she is assigned to audit Catchprice Motors. The Catchprices seem to epitomize the modern dysfunctional family, a wild blend of discordant characters commonly saddled with guilt and impossible dreams. Against the Catchprice backdrop, Maria shines like a diamond. Unfortunately, the Catchprices are charmed by Maria, too, and their attempts to bring her into their world are varied and unforgettable.

Far busier and more entangled than Bliss, less uplifting than either Bliss or Jack Maggs, this is not a book for the faint of heart, or those prone to depression! But there is still a thread of hope throughout this tale, winding through seamy strands of dishonesty and craziness.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another brilliant carey novel, March 11, 2002

By 

Jill Walker Rettberg (Bergen, Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tax Inspector (Paperback)

Carey's novels are so dark. I'm seduced by the prose and the situations but always find myself achingly wondering how I can bear to read more about the horrible histories of the characters and the tragic relationships between them. Mostly the characters start off seemingly likeable but the more I read the less I can identify with them.

The Tax Collector is another brilliant Peter Carey book, thankfully with a glimpse of hope in the mostly appalling ending. I'm glad there are still some more Carey novels left that I haven't read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Though but Worthwile Trip into Guilt, August 13, 2001

By 

Ricardo Garcia Mainou (Queretaro, Mx) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tax Inspector (Paperback)

The Tax Inspector maybe about the Catchprizes, a family entangled in its own guilt, sick games, and confusing emotion. It may also be about Maria, who gets into the Catchprize's path of destruction just by trying to perform a pointless auditing of their financial books (we learn from the first pages they are practically broke). But I could say the book is more about the emotional handicaped. No single character leaves this mess standing-up. Not even marginal characters like Maria's friend, lover and coworkers. Not even the reader. This is no book to put down as entertainment. Carey writes like a virtuous, his use of language to convey past and present into a downsiding spiral of distress is memorable. You will find yourself deep into Catchprize motors, you'll smell the oil stains, the decay and the hopelesness.