A Fraction of the Whole

　　迪恩家的故事跟其他家庭的故事也許沒什麼二樣。每個家庭都有自己的故事嘛。可不是。

　　賈思博這一輩子大部分的時候，都不知道要憐憫、討厭、喜愛，還是殺了那個發了瘋的老爸。老爸馬丁是個天才吧，然而天才與瘋狂也只是一線之間，他總是過度分析所有事情，還把這些自己蒐集的智慧傳授給唯一的兒子。不過現在老爸死了，賈思博終於可以好好反省這個狂人老爹是怎麼教養他的，而他終於明白原來他們這些瘋狂舉動其實是冒險壯舉。

　　就在他細數老爸去世前的時光，他想起一個個童年時候粗暴又駭人的發現，像是他目中無人的舅舅與無端失蹤的歐洲裔的母親，還有他老爸在這個他所鄙視的世界裡不斷地退敗……

　　《整體的一小部分》是Steve Toltz的處女作，入圍2008布克獎決選名單。他住在澳洲雪梨。

　　Martin Dean spent his entire life analyzing absolutely everything, from the benefits of suicide to the virtues of strip clubs versus brothels. Now that he’s dead, his son Jasper can fully reflect on the man who raised him in intellectual captivity, and the irony is: theirs was a grand 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 and long-dead criminal uncle, his tortured and mysteriously absent European mother, and Martin’s constant losing battle to make a lasting impression on the world. It’s a story that takes them from the Australian bush to the cafes of bohemian Paris, from the Thai jungle to labyrinths, mental hospitals, and criminal lairs, from the highs of first love to the lows of rejection and failed ambition. The result is an uproarious indictment of the ridiculousness of the modern world and its mores, and the moving, memorable story of a father and son whose spiritual symmetry transcends all their many shortcomings.

　　With rights sold around the world, A Fraction of the Whole is poised to be one of the most talked-about fiction discoveries of the year.