Carey wins second Booker Prize
Author Peter Carey has become only the second writer to win the Booker Prize twice - and revealed he would be taking out fellow nominee Ian McEwan for a slap-up meal to celebrate.
Carey won the £21,000 first prize for his novel True History Of The Kelly Gang at a dinner at London's Guildhall.
The writer previously landed the title, regarded as the leading fiction award in the UK, in 1988 for Oscar And Lucinda.
He was also shortlisted for the prize in 1985 for his epic, Illywhacker.
Also shortlisted this year were Ian McEwan's Atonement, Oxygen by Andrew Miller, number9dream by David Mitchell, Hotel World by Ali Smith and The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert.
Despite his past win Carey said he was surprised at winning again but "delighted".
He said: "I really thought I was beyond it, if I won it I would be fine, and if I didn't win it I would be fine. But I'm astonished to find I'm bursting with adrenaline and feeling like it never happened and here I am feeling like I've been run over by a truck."
He said he was a good friend and admirer of Ian McEwan and they had exchanged e-mails to set a wager.
"It was Ian that said whoever wins buys the other a splendid meal. I think it should be in New York because the restaurants there are suffering. We'll have good wine."
Australian-born Carey, who has also written a collection of short stories, now lives in New York.
