Martin Dean spent his entire life analyzing absolutely everything - from the benefits of suicide to the virtues of strip clubs - and passing on his self-taught knowledge to his son, Jasper. But now that his father's dead, Jasper can fully reflect on the man who raised him in intellectual captivity, and the irony is this: theirs was a great adventure. As he recollects the extraordinary events that led to his father's demise, Jasper recounts a boyhood of outrageous schemes and shocking discoveries - about his infamous criminal uncle, his mysteriously absent mother, and Martin's constant battle to leave his mark on the world. From the Australian bush to the cafes of Paris; from the highs of first love to the lows of failed ambition, this is an unforgettable, rollicking and deeply moving family story.
A Fraction Of The Whole
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Will be the literary topic du jour on its release in March . . . a witty 700-page romp that has cult written all over it ((Australia) The Bulletin )
About the Author
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.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By ghandibob
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I'm not sure why, but I can't quite bring myself to give this five stars, but rest assured my four are big, heavy, glistening stars. Imagine them like the matching oiled pectorals on two tan-addicted steroidal gym monkeys, striding along a British beach on our long, glorious day (singular) of summer.
A Fraction of the Whole is great, though ultimately not perfect, and that is actually a significant part of its endless charm. It's a tall, even shaggy, story of young Australian men with a surfeit of character, butting against a normal world that can't cope with their intelligence, and won't accept their outsider status. The first part of the book covers the young criminal career of the Ned Kelly-alike anti-hero, Terry, seen through the eyes of his quiet, sickly brother, Martin. It then goes on to follow a young adult Martin travelling to Paris, events we see as his son Jasper reads a diary Martin wrote at the time. This peek inside Martin's mind shows us what an original viewpoint Steve Toltz has created: a mind that drifts free of convention and muses on the world in a dark, unpleasant way that most people would prefer to pretend was unique to Martin, but in fact is likely just how we all think about things when the lights are off. It's hard to take in places, but is nearly always very funny, and the humour-coated pills are sometimes too easy to swallow, as you find yourself agreeing with the lunatic at the centre of the story.
It's very hard to give a rounded picture of Toltz's debut, because it is so different from most new novels, and that's to its credit. It did remind me of the comic, digressive novel that came out last year, by Millard Kaufman, Bowl of Cherries, but Toltz captures the antic tone better.
If I was forced to explain why I haven't given this five stars, I suppose it's because it doesn't all hold together at all times. The story reads as several shorter stories, and the narrative tone of Martin is too similar to that of Jaspar, but that is picking holes for the sake of it, and Toltz may well want the father and the son, so different in their lives, to ultimately sound so similar.
It is, without question, a very, very funny, engrossing, gabbling example of Australian exuberance, and I can well recommend it to you.
A Fraction of the Whole is great, though ultimately not perfect, and that is actually a significant part of its endless charm. It's a tall, even shaggy, story of young Australian men with a surfeit of character, butting against a normal world that can't cope with their intelligence, and won't accept their outsider status. The first part of the book covers the young criminal career of the Ned Kelly-alike anti-hero, Terry, seen through the eyes of his quiet, sickly brother, Martin. It then goes on to follow a young adult Martin travelling to Paris, events we see as his son Jasper reads a diary Martin wrote at the time. This peek inside Martin's mind shows us what an original viewpoint Steve Toltz has created: a mind that drifts free of convention and muses on the world in a dark, unpleasant way that most people would prefer to pretend was unique to Martin, but in fact is likely just how we all think about things when the lights are off. It's hard to take in places, but is nearly always very funny, and the humour-coated pills are sometimes too easy to swallow, as you find yourself agreeing with the lunatic at the centre of the story.
It's very hard to give a rounded picture of Toltz's debut, because it is so different from most new novels, and that's to its credit. It did remind me of the comic, digressive novel that came out last year, by Millard Kaufman, Bowl of Cherries, but Toltz captures the antic tone better.
If I was forced to explain why I haven't given this five stars, I suppose it's because it doesn't all hold together at all times. The story reads as several shorter stories, and the narrative tone of Martin is too similar to that of Jaspar, but that is picking holes for the sake of it, and Toltz may well want the father and the son, so different in their lives, to ultimately sound so similar.
It is, without question, a very, very funny, engrossing, gabbling example of Australian exuberance, and I can well recommend it to you.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Mrs. Fiona Wilton
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I bought this on a whim (in fact I barely looked beyond the front cover) and wasn't particularly looking forward to reading it. I was UTTERLY wrong. This is probably the best book I've ever read. In fact take all the books I've ever read, add them all together and it probably just about matches how good this book is! One of the reviews says that "It gives off the unmistakeable whiff of a book that might just contain the secret of life.". I agree with this whole heartedly. Such is the authors expertise at observing the vagueries of human existence, the pointlessness of many of the things we try to achieve and just how funny it all is, that I was completely enthralled.
I cannot lend this to any friends becasue I'll probably want to read it again very soon and stop and think properly about some of the philosphical aspects.
It's a bit of a tome - some 700 pages - but I could have easily read more. It was hilarious in many parts and really laugh out loud stuff! Very original, fantastic and immense plot, funny and life enhancing - what more can we ask for?!
My only concern about this book - is how on earth it could be followed up?! Good luck Mr Toltz!
I cannot lend this to any friends becasue I'll probably want to read it again very soon and stop and think properly about some of the philosphical aspects.
It's a bit of a tome - some 700 pages - but I could have easily read more. It was hilarious in many parts and really laugh out loud stuff! Very original, fantastic and immense plot, funny and life enhancing - what more can we ask for?!
My only concern about this book - is how on earth it could be followed up?! Good luck Mr Toltz!
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By Clever Spud
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Up front I'm going to tell you that I loved this book! It's not without flaws but once I started reading I was compulsive about spending time with it whenever I could. A single novel spread over three books is a nice gimmick and a far more comfortable way to read a long book than when it's a single big book.
The bulk of the story is told by Australian Jasper Dean whose uncle is a notorious folk hero/criminal called Terry and whose self-pitying father Martin (Martin Dean... geddit?) has lived his entire life in Terry's shadow, even long after his death.
The story is partially told from Martin's point of view and so we get to see three generations of the Dean family, grandparents, parents and child. And what a messed up family it is. It seems nothing Martin does ever works out well despite his best intentions.
The humour is uniformly arid throughout and while not a laugh a minute I was regularly chuckling to myself.
Now here we get to the bad points. This is ultimately a book about books and possibly even a book about how the love of books is no excuse for not living your life in the real world. It's one of those novels that gives itself a sheen of intellectualism by quoting from a lot of very smart people's books. This is no bad thing really and actually led me to look at a number of the titles quoted, most of which it turns out are probably too heavy for me to get into. Still, it does no harm to look.
The other main problem is that although the half dozen or so main character have diverse outlooks and backgrounds they do all seem to talk with a very similar "voice". There are also some over-long stream of consciousness rants that can be hit or miss.
Overall I can't recommend this book highly enough. Unlike a lot of modern higher brow fiction the last book even manages to wrap up most of the story with just enough of a loose end to not rule out a sequel but don't let that dissuade you.
The bulk of the story is told by Australian Jasper Dean whose uncle is a notorious folk hero/criminal called Terry and whose self-pitying father Martin (Martin Dean... geddit?) has lived his entire life in Terry's shadow, even long after his death.
The story is partially told from Martin's point of view and so we get to see three generations of the Dean family, grandparents, parents and child. And what a messed up family it is. It seems nothing Martin does ever works out well despite his best intentions.
The humour is uniformly arid throughout and while not a laugh a minute I was regularly chuckling to myself.
Now here we get to the bad points. This is ultimately a book about books and possibly even a book about how the love of books is no excuse for not living your life in the real world. It's one of those novels that gives itself a sheen of intellectualism by quoting from a lot of very smart people's books. This is no bad thing really and actually led me to look at a number of the titles quoted, most of which it turns out are probably too heavy for me to get into. Still, it does no harm to look.
The other main problem is that although the half dozen or so main character have diverse outlooks and backgrounds they do all seem to talk with a very similar "voice". There are also some over-long stream of consciousness rants that can be hit or miss.
Overall I can't recommend this book highly enough. Unlike a lot of modern higher brow fiction the last book even manages to wrap up most of the story with just enough of a loose end to not rule out a sequel but don't let that dissuade you.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fraction of the whole by Toltz
Absolutely brilliant. Every time you think it's over a whole new story begins. And how much of this madman's philosophy do you find matches your own?
Published 15 days ago by G.R.HAWKEY
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rare find
This book managers to achieve what all great books do - you get back what you put in.
To take it at face value it could easily be seen as nonsense - the characters and... Read more
To take it at face value it could easily be seen as nonsense - the characters and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by G. M. Bradford
5.0 out of 5 stars
bought as a christmas present for a loved one
I bought this for a guy I was seeing last christmas because it was my favourite book ever. Unfortunately we since split so I never found out if he liked it or not. Read more
Published 1 month ago by D. Power
5.0 out of 5 stars
Slow start, but then impossible to put down
For the first 50 pages or so, I didn't really get this book. I wasn't even sure that I was going to finish it.
But wow, how it was worth persevering. Read more
But wow, how it was worth persevering. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Darren
2.0 out of 5 stars
Unexpected
No problem with delivery which was speedy and well packaged. The cardboard was wet at one corner but it was a wet day. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Toynearound
4.0 out of 5 stars
A PHILOSOPHICAL BOOK
A very clever, very funny, very philosophical, very interestingly written and very un-politically correct reading. Read more
Published 5 months ago by manucassa
5.0 out of 5 stars
best australian novel ever
An absolutely dazzling book that tells you everything you need to know about contemporary Australia, its obsessions and underside. Read more
Published 7 months ago by finnea
2.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't get on with it
I have to be honest and say I couldn't get on with these books at all. I tried twice, and both times I just ran out of patience which is unusual for me, and put them down. Read more
Published 7 months ago by lmhh
5.0 out of 5 stars
Original genius
It took me months to actually get round to reading this book, which was given to me as a present. Once I started I couldn't put it down. Read more
Published 9 months ago by J. R. Davies
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best at the beginning...
Overall, I loved the book. Just found it to be one of those reads that started off amazingly well, and dragged a bit further on. That said, I did finish it.
Published 10 months ago by kakescloud
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