Peter Carey Critical Essay | Critical Review by Richard Eder

SOURCE: "Titans of the Junkyard," in Los Angeles Times Book Review, December 29, 1991, pp. 3, 8.

An American critic and journalist, Eder received the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1987. In the review below, he remarks on the characters in The Tax Inspector.

Three generations of Catchprices run a failing General Motors dealership in the slummy outskirts of Sydney, Australia. Frieda, the octogenarian matriarch, interferes, sulks and carries gelignite in her pockets as another woman might carry Mace. Cathy, her husky daughter, runs the business end but belts out country-and-Western ballads, and yearns for stardom. Her brother, Mort, a mild, hairy man, runs the shop while dreaming of a quiet little garage of his own. Jack, the other brother, has broken away to become a rich downtown developer.

As for the grandchildren, Mort's sons: Vish is a Hare Krishna, but keeps getting dragged into the family's stormy councils; 16-year-old...
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