Steve Toltz

{{Short description|Australian novelist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Steve Toltz | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | image = Steve Toltz 2016.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Toltz at the 2016 Texas Book Festival | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1972}} | birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | death_date =  | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Author | language = | nationality = Australian | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = | subject =  | movement = | notableworks =  | spouse = | partner =  | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | years_active = | module = | website = {{URL|stevetoltz.com|SteveToltz.com}} | portaldisp =  }}

'''Steve Toltz''' (born 1972 in Sydney) is an Australian novelist.

==Early life and education== Toltz attended Killara High School and graduated from the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, in 1994. Prior to his literary career, he lived in Montreal, Vancouver, New York City, Barcelona, and Paris, variously working as a cameraman, telemarketer, security guard, private investigator, English teacher, and screenwriter.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

==Works== ''A Fraction of the Whole'', his first novel, was released in 2008 to widespread critical acclaim. It is a comic novel which tells the history of a family of Australian outcasts. The narration of the novel alternates between Jasper Dean, a philosophical, idealistic boy, who grows up throughout the novel and his father, Martin Dean, a philosopher and shut-in described at the start of the novel as "the most hated man in all of Australia". This is in contrast with Terry Dean, Jasper's uncle, whom Jasper describes as "the most beloved man in all of Australia". The novel spans the entirety of Martin's life and several years after (a range never specified in the text, but starting after World War II and ending in the early 2000s), and is set in Australia, Paris, and Thailand.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

The novel has repeatedly been compared favourably to John Kennedy Toole's Pulitzer Prize winning novel ''A Confederacy of Dunces''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120251045084055011|title=An Over the Top, Down Under Tale|first=Kyle|last=Smith|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=9 February 2008|via=www.wsj.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://o.canada.com/|title=Canada.Com | Homepage | Canada.Com|website=ocanada}}</ref> ''A Fraction of the Whole'' was shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7606147.stm|title = First-timers seeking Booker glory|date = 9 September 2008}}</ref> and the 2008 Guardian First Book Award.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.themanbookerprize.com/prize/thisyear/longlist|title=The Man Booker Prize Longlist}}</ref>

His second novel, ''Quicksand'', published in 2015,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jordan|first=Justine|date=2015-05-29|title=Quicksand by Steve Toltz review – brilliantly dark|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/may/29/quicksand-by-steve-toltz-review|access-date=2021-09-09|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> won the Russell Prize,<ref name="MorrisPrize">{{cite news|last1=Morris|first1=Linda|title=Steve Toltz's Quicksand wins $10,000 humour writing prize|url=http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/steve-toltzs-quicksand-wins-10000-humour-writing-prize-20170607-gwmx5h.html|accessdate=25 October 2017|publisher=Sydney Morning Herald|date=8 June 2017}}</ref> while his third, ''Here Goes Nothing'', was longlisted for the 2022 Nib Literary Award.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2022-08-01 |title=Nib Literary Award 2022 longlist announced |url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2022/08/01/218360/nib-literary-award-2022-longlist-announced/ |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=Books+Publishing |language=en-AU}}</ref> == Bibliography == * ''A Fraction of the Whole'' (2008) * ''Quicksand'' (2015) * ''Here Goes Nothing'' (2022)

== References == {{reflist|1}}

==External links== {{Wikiquote}} *[http://www.stevetoltz.com Steve Toltz Official Website] *[http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number=1537 Bookbrowse Biography] *[https://cargocollective.com/stevetoltz/Reviews A Fraction of the Whole and Quicksand – Reviews and review links]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toltz, Steve}} Category:Writers from Sydney Category:Living people Category:1972 births Category:Australian male novelists