by Steve Toltz (2008)
"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... Heroes or Criminals? Crackpots or Visionaries? Families or Enemies?" Anyway, you know how it is. Every family has a story like this one. Most of his life, Jasper Dean couldn't decide whether to pity, hate, love, or murder his certifiably paranoid father, Martin, a man who overanalyzed anything and everything and imparted his self-garnered wisdom to his only son. But now that Martin is dead, Jasper can fully reflect on the crackpot who raised him in intellectual captivity, and what he realizes is that, for all its lunacy, theirs was a grand adventure. As he recollects the events that led to his father's demise, Jasper recounts a boyhood of outrageous schemes and shocking discoveries--about his infamous outlaw uncle Terry, his mysteriously absent European mother, and Martin's constant losing battle to make a lasting mark on the world he so disdains. It's a story that takes them from the Australian bush to the cafes of bohemian Paris, from the Thai jungle to strip clubs, asylums, labyrinths, and criminal lairs, and from the highs of first love to the lows of failed ambition. The result is a rollicking roller-coaster ride from obscurity to infamy, and the moving, memorable story of a father and son whose spiritual symmetry transcends all their many shortcomings. *A Fraction of the Whole* is an uproarious indictment of the modern world and its mores and the epic debut of the blisteringly funny and talented Steve Toltz.
Aravind Adiga
Balram Halwai is a complicated man. Servant. Philosopher. Entrepreneur. Murderer. Over the course of seven nights, by the scattered light of a preposterous chandelier, Balram tells the terrible and transfixing story of how he came to be a success in life -- having nothing but his own wits to help him along.
Peter Carey
Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity is a celebrated work by Peter Carey (Double Booker Prize Winner), recognized for masterclass storytelling and lasting literary resonance.
Lynn Coady
"Karen has come home to Nova Scotia for the first time in a decade to oversee her mother’s funeral and tend to her affairs. Irene, a trained nurse, had spent her life caring for Karen’s older sister Kelli, who was born with a developmental disability. Before her death, Irene had secured a placement for Kelli at the Seaside Care Facility, but after the funeral, in a fog of guilt and grief over her neglect of Irene and Kelli over the years, Karen starts to second-guess her mother’s instructions. Not knowing which way to turn, she begins to depend on Trevor, one of Kelli’s caregivers, for both advice and support, trusting him all the more once she learns how close he was to Irene. Slowly, Trevor insinuates himself into Karen and Kelli’s lives. Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author Lynn Coady delivers a creepy and wholly compelling novel about the complex relationship between mothers and daughters and sisters, women and men, and who to trust and how to trust in a world where the supposedly selfless act of caregiving can camouflage a sinister self-interest."--
José Saramago
All the Names is a celebrated work by José Saramago (Nobel Laureate), recognized for masterclass storytelling and lasting literary resonance.