Books like Bliss

So - a friend of mine is going to Greece soon and a friend of his collects honey and I tried some and told her it was the nicest honey I had ever tried (which was true - no exaggeration at all). My friend leaves next week and I thought it would be nice to send over a book with him to the honey collector. BUT, and I struggle to believe this is true, this book is out of print in Australia. This isn't a book by What's His Face No Name - this is Bliss by Peter Carey! What other nation does this to their authors? Really, I'm quite ashamed about this. I walked the city on Friday looking for a copy of this book. In the end I just went into bookshops to shame them. I've had to send the book by mail order from Ireland, of all places. What other book could you possibly send a honey collector, though, if you were to send one from Australia? * * * Previous reviewA very dear friend of mine once wrote to me, after my sending this book to her, to say that this book was flawed. She is probably right, but there are so many things that I love about it I would forgive it almost anything.Firstly, it has one of the greatest opening sentences in lit history (okay, so I'm prone to gross exaggeration) - something like, 'Harry Joy was to die three times, but it was his first death that left the most lasting impression on him'. I think Harry Joy is a wonderful name for a character.The story, in extreme short version and only the very start - is a man has a heart attack and dies. Prior to dying he had the perfect life, wife who loved him, two beautiful kids, job he loves, friends ... and so on. They bring him back to life and he finds, believes, he has actually died and gone to hell. His wife is having an affair, his kids are drug dealers and prostitutes and so on and so forth - everything is the same, nothing is the same. There is a character in this that writes letters he never sends to companies he works for telling them he knows they are evil. Dear god, please do not make that character be me.It is the end of this book that I love the most - a single image at what is close to the very end that has stayed with me forever and ever - Harry's love letter that took seven years to deliver. Now, there is a beautiful thing.