A Fraction of the Whole: A Novel

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From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. At the heart of this sprawling, dizzying debut from a quirky, assured Australian writer are two men: Jasper Dean, a judgmental but forgiving son, and Martin, his brilliant but dysfunctional father. Jasper, in an Australian prison in his early 20s, scribbles out the story of their picaresque adventures, noting cryptically early on that [m]y father's body will never be found. As he tells it, Jasper has been uneasily bonded to his father through thick and thin, which includes Martin's stint managing a squalid strip club during Jasper's adolescence; an Australian outback home literally hidden within impenetrable mazes; Martin's ill-fated scheme to make every Australian a millionaire; and a feverish odyssey through Thailand's menacing jungles. Toltz's exuberant, looping narrative—thick with his characters' outsized longings and with their crazy arguments—sometimes blows past plot entirely, but comic drive and Toltz's far-out imagination carry the epic story, which puts the two (and Martin's own nemesis, his outlaw brother, Terry) on an irreverent roller-coaster ride from obscurity to infamy. Comparisons to Special Topics in Calamity Physics are likely, but this nutty tour de force has a more tender, more worldly spin. (Feb.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ReviewSHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2008“_A Fraction of the Whole_ is that rarest of long books–utterly worth it...The story starts in a prison riot and ends on a plane, and there is not one forgettable episode in between...It reads like Mark Twain with access to an intercontinental Airbus...This book moves; it bucks and rocks in a world that feels more than a hemisphere away...So comically dark and inviting that you have no choice but to step into its icy wake.” —_Esquire “Rollicking...laugh-out-loud funny.” —Entertainment Weekly___“A rich father-and-son story packed with incident, humor, and characters reminiscent of the styles of Charles Dickens and John Irving...Occasionally, a big, sprawling first novel fights its way into print with a flourish, at which point its ambition and the eccentricities of its ‘firstness’ can become its best marketing tools. Such is the case with A Fraction of the Whole, a book that is willfully misanthropic and very funny...like Irving, Toltz makes minor characters leap off the page...He’s a superb, disturbing phrasemaker...this long novel, which lives or dies in the brilliance of its writing, has a subtle, compelling structure..._A Fraction of the Whole_ soars like a rocket.” —_Los Angeles Times___“Combines the hilarious high-low reference points of early Martin Amis with the annihilating punk inventiveness of Chuck Palahniuk.” —_Best Life _“One of the best books I’ve ever read. A Fraction of the Whole is better than The Corrections, and Toltz did it in one book while it took Franzen two to get The Corrections out into the world. Granted, you have your whole life to write your first novel, but my God, A Fraction of the Whole does things that most writers can’t do in a lifetime... A wildly addictive exploration into a man’s soul, a profoundly moving experience almost religious in its execution and possibly one of the sharpest and irresistibly humorous post-modern adventures I’ve had the pleasure to read... Steve Toltz has written a masterpiece, a smashing debut that will long be remembered as a colossal example of just how good fiction can be. He keeps you wired to the page from the jump and he defies gravity all the way to the end.” —Ain’t It Cool News “First novels these days too seldom dare to raise their voices above an elegant whisper or an ironic murmur. Not so A Fraction of the Whole, a riotously funny first novel that is harder to ignore than a crate of puppies, twice as playful and just about as messy. This is not a book to be read so much as an experience to be wallowed in. Mr. Toltz’s merry chaos–a mix of metaphysical inquiry, ribald jokes, freakish occurrences and verbal dynamite booming across the page–deserves a place next to A Confederacy of Dunces in a category that might be called the undergraduate ecstatic. A Fraction of the Whole is a sort of Voltaire-meets-Vonnegut tale.” —_Wall Street Journal_“Madcap, exhausting, and true in the way the best lies always are.” —_New York Observer _“Wild...an odyssey that’s inspired, sorta stoned, tender, and very funny. Sometimes all at the same time. Toltz’s invention is as breathtaking as the speed of his narrative in a book that seems to have had all the boring parts snipped...There is wit on every page...Jorge Luis Borges is obviously an influence on Toltz. There is also a bit of John Irving and Tom Robbins here in the wacky characters and narrative drive. A Fraction of the Whole even has a touch of the weary philosophizing of Vonnegut, too. In its structure–and especially in its ending–there is even a pinch of Tristram Shandy. Very good company, all.” —_Chicago Sun-Times_ “Hold on tight because you are about to ride a juggernaut of words, where things will go by very quickly and you better pay attention...The real pleasure in reading this book is the pace and the language. What Toltz has done masterfully is have his way with every aspect of modern life. He racks ‘em up and knocks ‘em down with a laser wit, a fine turn of phrase and a devastatingly funny outlook on everything human.” —_Seattle Times _“An exuberantly funny debut novel that you should just go away and read...There is plenty to laugh at in A Fraction of the Whole–and also, goodness knows, there is plenty of plot and the narrative pace of a puppy with attention deficit disorder. But it also has a heart...A grand achievement and the debut of a great comic talent.” —_Sunday Times_ (UK) “Sparkling comic writing...It gives off the unmistakable whiff of a book that might just contain the secret of life.” —_Independent_ (UK) “This absurdly incident-laden, feverish, farcical life story bears the watermark of long gestation. What’s more, it stands above the vast majority of debut novels because it seems so marvelously sure of itself and what it should be...Toltz’s fizzing, acid, funny prose is capable of a kind of broken, lyrical beauty...Amid the dizzying whirl of events, Toltz never loses sight of a deep current that runs throughout his story...It’s a spiritual search that allows a conclusion that finds an affecting depth of feeling. Yes, A Fraction of the Whole is a wildly looping rollercoaster. But there’s much more to it than meaningless exhilaration.” —_Independent on Sunday_ (UK)“With tinges of magical realism and buckets of misanthropic humor it's a clever and funny debut.” —_Observer_ (UK)“Very light on its feet, skipping from anecdote, to rant, to reflection, like a stone skimming across a pond...There’s a section about a labyrinth that you could imagine Borges writing, another about a lottery gone wrong that made me think of Vonnegut, and a strange, lovely account of childhood illness that had echoes of Garcia Marquez. In some ways it plays like a modern Arabian Nights...The inevitability of disaster is heartbreaking...Brilliant.” —_Guardian_ (UK) “Quirky, satirical, and absolutely delirious..._A Fraction of the Whole_ is one of the most hilarious, original literary romps in years with sizzle on each and every page. Hold on tight and enjoy the ride.” —_Tucson Citizen_ “A sprawling, dizzying debut...Comic drive and Steve Toltz’s far-out imagination carry the epic story . . . a nutty tour de force.” –_Publishers Weekly_, starred review “What satirical fun is found on the madcap pages of this rough-and-tumble tale...This hilarious, sneaky smart first novel is as big and rangy as Australia . . . Toltz salts it all with uproarious ruminations on freedom, the soul, love, death, and the meaning of life. This is one rampaging and irresistible debut.” –_Booklist_, starred review “The perfect vacation read for just about everyone...This book allows you to romp along with the characters on an epic journey with two crazy Australian brothers who you fall madly in love with despite their wild, degenerate lives...packed with so many rich characters, setting descriptions, philosophy and fun you need something to aid digestion after each reading...Steve Toltz is hilarious, smart, with a fantastic imagination...His novel is a rollicking worldwide adventure...Take time to enjoy this one; you won’t be disappointed.” —_The Daily Planet_, Telluride, CO “_A Fraction of the Whole_ belongs to a neglected subgenre: serious fiction that refuses to take itself seriously. A ballsy, beautifully idiosyncratic epic, it asks dizzying primal questions about mortality, belief, and the shadowy, unmapped alleyways of human thought–and Toltz manages his metaphysics like a master surfer riding a colossal wave...It’s a madcap, propulsive story...The energy of the writing is brilliantly infectious...The novel’s heart is as big as its intellect...It feels like an added bonus that, for all its hilarious misanthropy, A Fraction of the Whole testifies to the power of even the most reluctant love.” —_Sunday Business Post_ (Ireland) “Packed with plots, sub-plots, sub-sub-plots, tangents, flashbacks, diversions, philosophical wanderings and spectacular set pieces...Fuelled by brilliant ideas and driven by an original, bracing, and very funny voice.” --_The Age_ (Australia) “Reads like the trajectory of a gleefully crazed Roman candle...a sprawling, entertaining, decidedly quirky, and at times laugh-out-loud funny romp reminiscent of John Irving’s family sagas.” —_Library Journal_