A Fraction of a Whole

Penguin's major fiction launch of 2008 - an anarchic comic adventure about a father and son against the world, and against each other

'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.' Meet the Deans. After a crippling injury which cut short a golden sporting career, Jasper Dean's uncle became Australia's most beloved murderer. After a lifetime of brilliantly impossible ideas and a brief stint as the country's saviour, Jasper's father became Australia's most loathed philosopher. This is Jasper's attempt to make sense of it all. Are they heroes or criminals? Crackpots or visionaries? Caring relatives or deadly enemies? Has his father saved him, or sunk him? Who's Jasper meant to emulate, or is he condemned to repeat all of their mistakes again? From small-town New South Wales to France, Thailand and a leaky boat in the Pacific, A Fraction of the Whole is a tale of crime, celebrity, love, writing, loathing, labyrinths, insufficient sex, boredom, politics, madness and everything that's ever been wrong with the world. It's a simple family story...