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A Fraction of the Whole | 
 enlarge | Author: Steve Toltz
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $7.95
You Save: $17.00 (68%)
New (39) Collectible (2) from $7.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  61 reviews
Sales Rank: 34145
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.5
ISBN: 0385521723
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN: 9780385521727
ASIN: 0385521723
Publication Date: February 12, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 56 more reviews...
 Excellent story! November 18, 2008
This is a GREAT story.
Not great as in "cool", but great as in EXCELLENT!
Whilst reading, towards the end, I did think the story was "carrying on a bit" but when I had finished - the length was just perfect - PERFECT like so much of the writing, and the characters, and the story.
I was trying to write a novel before reading this GREAT work of novel writing - I am delaying my writing by at least five years - I need to read a lot more novels - I know I will NEVER be able to write as well as Steve Toltz - not if I study and read other novels FOREVER.
WELL DONE STEVE - a great novel and a great read - great as in EXCELLENT!
THE great World novel by an AUSTRALIAN - well done indeed.
An extraordinary story well told October 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Our narrator is Jasper Dean, in his early twenties, and he tells the story of his upbringing and his family; which is in effect the story about himself, his father Martin and his father's brother Terry. Not an ordinary family by any means and not a particularly happy family, but certainly a very interesting and endearing family.
Jasper admits right from the start that he is writing his account from prison, and initially one is not drawn to him, and it is a relief that he gives over the telling of the account to his father by means of Martin's own writings recorded in is extensive journals; in fact the whole of the first volume of this three volume set is given over to is father's first person telling of the families life, along with much of Martin's philosophising. It is a story which starts in New South Wales, Australia, but which eventually takes us round the world, as with volumes two and three, we return to Jasper who takes us through the rest of the story with only the occasional return to Marin's accounts.
Central to the story is the relationship between father and son, and Martin's eccentric but well intentioned efforts at raising Jasper to be an individual. But to reveal anything of the plot will would be to spoil the amazing adventure, it is full of surprises and unexpected turns; but it is safe to say something of the nature of the story. It is a very funny story but at the same time a very moving story, it will have you laughing on one page and on the next close to tears. It is a remarkable, almost unbelievable story with many seemingly bizarre coincidences, yet it is thoroughly convincing. It is a story full of irony; and a story of love and family devotion and loyalty despite the family tensions.
But what makes this a truly outstanding story is the quality of the writing; the prose flows with such ease that the 700 plus pages should in no way be thought daunting. Steve Toltz has the ability to write not only prose which is effortless to read, but prose which is also immeasurably enjoyable, writing peppered with many very witty similes and metaphors; he will often lighten some of the more harrowing passages with such. His writing is also very perceptive of human nature, and it is this perceptiveness which makes the improbable believable.
A Fraction of the Whole is an extraordinary tale told in a most absorbing manner. The characters are thoroughly likeable despite their failings, including and especially (despite my initial reticence) Jasper. The conclusion is truly engrossing and moving; many novels have brought me close to tears, but at one stage Steve Toltz literally had tears of sorrow rolling down my cheeks. Yet he manages to end the tale on a positive note with a real sense of fulfilment and hope.
Reminds me why I became a writer October 22, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Once in a long while a novel comes along that reminds me why I became a writer. It must be a story so good that it resonates in my head, creating a world of its own inside physical reality, and it must be rife with phrases and scenes I like to turn over in my head as I might a sweet morsel under my tongue.
Steve Toltz' A Fraction of the Wholeis such a book. It is a picaresque novel in the grandest Australian tradition, and such a tale as to make tearing yourself away a painful chore. Not since Tim Winton's Cloudstreet and Peter Carey's Illywhacker have I enjoyed a book from Down Under this much. It is a masterpiece.
Should have won the booker! October 17, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Okay, I didn't read the winner's work, or any of the other finalist but I still speak confidentally when I say this cat should have won. All in all this is a fantastic book, I just wish it were either a hundred pages longer or a hundred shorter. Some of the schemes felt like...well just that schemes to move the story along and he could have gotten more in depth within those plot devices but still buy this. Send him crying over the booker award all the way to the bank.
A Stellar Debut September 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I discovered `A Fraction of the Whole' in the new arrivals section of my excellent hometown library. As a graphic artist and former subscriber to literary reviews, I've learned that gorgeous covers and promising reviews do not assure a good read.
With that in mind, I only had to read the first three pages of Steve Toltz's debut novel to know I couldn't walk away without bringing it home. The writing is skillful, irreverant, funny, often dark but always fresh. And if the average person mightn't relate to Toltz's eccentric characters and wild situations, they will find much to enjoy in Jasper and Martin's ruminations on soul, heart and family dynamics.
The editorial reviews on this page are all raves - and all right on.
After returning `A Fraction of the Whole' to my town library, I quickly purchased two copies.
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