#paperback #australia #stevetoltz #fiction #domesticfiction #family #generation #eccentric

Paperback (1 to 2 lbs)

Virginia

Steve Toltz's A Fraction of the Whole is a riotously funny explosion of a novel

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2008

From his prison cell, Jasper Dean tells the unlikely story of his scheming father Martin, his crazy Uncle Terry and how the three of them upset - mostly unintentionally - an entire continent. Incorporating death, parenting (good and bad kinds), one labyrinth, first love, a handbook for criminals, a scheme to make everyone rich and an explosive suggestion box, Steve Toltz's A Fraction of the Whole is a hilarious, heartbreaking story of families and how to survive them.


'A fat book but very light on its feet, skipping from anecdote, to rant, to reflection, like a stone skimming across a pond . . . it is brilliant' Guardian

'Sparkling comic writing . . .It gives off the unmistakeable whiff of a book that might just contain the secret of life' Independent

'With tinges of magical realism and buckets of misanthropic humour it's a clever and funny debut' Observer


'If first novels were sandwiches, Steve Toltz's would be a juicy, swaggering doorstop of a sarnie, overflowing with eccentrically combined but delicious ingredients . . . Toltz is a superb phrase-maker with an acute eye for humanity's shortfalls'Big Issue

Steve Toltz was born in Sydney. After graduating from Newcastle University in 1994, he has lived in Sydney, Montreal, Vancouver, Barcelona and Paris, working primarily as a screenwriter and freelance writer, but also doing stints as both a private investigator and an English teacher. A Fraction of the Whole is his first book.

A Fraction of the Whole

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Steve Toltz

#paperback #fiction #family book pages and spine are in like new condition. Rated as good due to tear on cover- please see additional photos for details

Illinois

A Novel

Meet the Deans “The fact is, the whole of Australia despises my father more than any other man, just as they adore my uncle more than any other man. I might as well set the story straight about both of them . . .” Heroes or Criminals? Crackpots or Visionaries? Families or Enemies? “. . . Anyway, you know how it is. Every family has a story like this one.” Most of his life, Jasper Dean couldn’t decide whether to pity, hate, love, or murder his certifiably paranoid father, Martin, a man who overanalyzed anything and everything and imparted his self-garnered wisdom to his only son. But now that Martin is dead, Jasper can fully reflect on the crackpot who raised him in intellectual captivity, and what he realizes is that, for all its lunacy, theirs was a grand adventure. As he recollects the events that led to his father’s demise, Jasper recounts a boyhood of outrageous schemes and shocking discoveries—about his infamous outlaw uncle Terry, his mysteriously absent European mother, and Martin’s constant losing battle to make a lasting mark on the world he so disdains. It’s a story that takes them from the Australian bush to the cafes of bohemian Paris, from the Thai jungle to strip clubs, asylums, labyrinths, and criminal lairs, and from the highs of first love to the lows of failed ambition. The result is a rollicking rollercoaster ride from obscurity to infamy, and the moving, memorable story of a father and son whose spiritual symmetry transcends all their many shortcomings. A Fraction of the Whole is an uproarious indictment of the modern world and its mores and the epic debut of the blisteringly funny and talented Steve Toltz.

Category - Fiction / General Fiction

Format - Paperback

Condition - Good

Listed - 9 months ago

Views - 1

Ships From - Virginia

Est. Publication Date - May 2009

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ISBN: 9780141031828

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