“There is a divinity in odd numbers”, wrote William Shakespeare, “either in nativity, chance or death”. Whether or not you accept that some numbers have supernatural properties, undeniably in numbers of every kind there is art. Numbers have always provided inspiration in all forms of human creativity, including the art of storytelling. The importance of numbers in literature has been reinforced by the publication of two high-profile debut Australian novels, Steven Toltz’s A Fraction of the Whole and Toni Jordan’s Addition. Toltz’s book is a raucous, sprawling saga about the men in an Australian family with a peculiar gift for…