Steve Toltz Reviews
WALL ST JOURNAL
“riotously funny first novel by Australian Steve Toltz that is harder to ignore than a crate of puppies, twice as playful and just about as messy”
LA TIMES
“I loved the wild ride. “A Fraction of the Whole" soars like a rocket.”
SEATTLE TIMES
“While there is a narrative thread, what Toltz has done masterfully is have his way with every aspect of modern life… with a laser wit, a fine turn of phrase and a devastatingly funny outlook on everything human”
CHICAGO SUN TIMES
“Australian 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”
USA TODAY
“Rousing and sprawling debut”
MEN’S STYLE
“Toltz’s debut is virtuosic smart-arsery with brains, balls and a bittersweet heart. As unique and unlikely as a flying zebra, mere review won’t do this justice. Stupendous.”
THE BULLETIN
“A witty 700-page romp which has cult written all over it”
SMH
“comical, philosophical, picaresque, hugely enjoyable”
COURIER MAIL
“Brilliantly funny… every sentence is a quotable aprhorism clothed in light-hearted observations about human behaviour. A 700-page modern classic”
ALR
“Hardened critics have been spotted reading proof copies while walking down the street, unable to prise themselves away”
THE BIG ISSUE
“Littered with razor-sharp one-liners and observations. Undeniably Australian… but not in the way to which we've become accustomed”
CANBERRA TIMES
“There is something for everyone in this kaleidoscope of a novel … A wonderful read”
ADELAIDE ADVERTISER
“A Fraction of the Whole soars with glorious abandon … A story crammed with vigour, insight and bravado, and a reminder that truly great writing must be audacious and visionary, not merely well crafted”
SUNDAY MAIL BRISBANE/SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
“Exhilarating. Don’t be daunted by the length of the book – it never flags and at no stage feels overwritten … Toltz is a magnificently talented writer who has created a full cast of utterly compelling characters, every one of them. A gloriously absorbing, preposterous and funny excursion to the brink of madness and the meaning of life.”
GQ AUSTRALIA
“700 pages of crackling-wit prose”
HERALD SUN
“Bursting with ideas and filled with lasting images. An epic work of imagination”
SMH
‘It is unlike any other Australian novel – indeed, unlike any novel – I can think of … I loved it”
TIME OUT SYDNEY
“A prodigious new talent”
THE AUSTRALIAN
“I love the wonderfully whacky philosophising and the amazing way this novel fits together … The novel is ridiculous and true, far-fetched and convincing, alienating and addictive”
BOOKLIST
“[A] hilarious, sneaky smart first novel… as big and rangy as Australia … one rampaging and irresistible debut”
PUBLISHERS’ WEEKLY
“Comic drive and Toltz's far-out imagination carry the epic story … Comparisons to Special Topics in Calamity Physics are likely, but this nutty tour de force has a more tender, more worldly spin.”
ESQUIRE
“That rarest of long books – utterly worth it. The year is two months old. But this is the book of a two-month-old year. It may well carry the whole thing.”
