Top 10 ventriloquism books

Wesley Stace, a celebrated musician and songwriter who performs under the name John Wesley Harding, is the author of two novels, Misfortune and the recently-released by George (which appeared at the Page 69 Test).

He selected a "top 10 ventriloquism books" list for the Guardian. One title to make the list:

True History of The Kelly Gang by Peter Carey

In the New York Times, Janet Maslin called Carey's 2000 masterpiece "a spectacular feat of literary ventriloquism". The concept has since caught on in reviews, blurbs and flap copy: it's such a good way to think of fiction. It was this review excerpt, from the back of the Kelly Gang paperback, that made me wonder why there wasn't a novel where ventriloquism spoke for itself.

Read about the other titles on Stace's list.

Check out an excerpt from by George and more about the novel at Wesley Stace's website and his MySpace page.

The Page 69 Test: by George.

--Marshal Zeringue