Durante la mayor parte de su vida, Jasper Dean no ha sabido si compadecer, odiar, amar o asesinar a su paranoico y excepcional padre, Martin. Pero ahora que Martin ha muerto, Jasper puede reflexionar acerca del hombre que lo crio, y lo que descubre es que, pese a todas sus excentricidades, la suya fue una gran aventura. Mientras rememora los extraordinarios acontecimientos que llevaron al espectacular final de su padre, Jasper Dean recuerda una infancia de metodos estramboticos y descubrimientos sorprendentes, a su infame y criminal tio Terry, a su madre misteriosamente ausente, y la batalla siempre perdida de Martin por dejar su impronta en el mundo que tanto despreciaba. Finalista del prestigioso premio Man Booker, esta original novela nos conduce del paramo australiano al Paris bohemio, de las junglas de Tailandia a laberintos, psiquiatricos y guaridas de criminales, y de lo mas alto del primer amor a lo mas bajo de la ambicion frustrada. El resultado es un alocado viaje del anonimato a la infamia, asi como la historia conmovedora y memorable de un padre y un hijo cuya simetria espiritual trasciende sus abundantes desencuentros. Una parte del todo es una divertidisima critica del mundo moderno y el debut epico del vertiginoso talento de Steve Toltz. / Most of his life, Jasper Dean couldnt 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 fathers demise, Jasper recounts a boyhood of outrageous schemes and shocking discoveriesabout his infamous outlaw uncle Terry, his mysteriously absent European mother, and Martins constant losing battle to make a lasting mark on the world he so disdains. Its 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 rollercoaster ride from obscurity to infamy, and the moving, memorable story of a father and son whose spiritual symmetry transcends all their many shortcomings.