The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen

However, author Reif Larsen has transcended the sum of such influences to produce an engrossing and original novel. There are even hints of Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time in TS's slightly autistic behaviour, and something Harry Potter-ish about a benign, possibly supernatural secret society which takes Sparrow under its wing.

In American novels from To Kill a Mockingbird to Catcher in the Rye, an unreliable child narrator (TS is a compulsive liar) has exposed the hypocrisies of the adult world. The obsessive noting of detail and the digressive footnotes were reminiscent of Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine. Along with his footnotes and digressions, they attempt to impose order upon a chaotic, confusing, complex world.Įlements of the book reminded me of other novels. TS recounts his epic trek across America with the aid of many diagrams scattered around the margins of this book. When the Smithsonian Institution, unaware of his age, calls to say that his illustrations have won a prize, he packs a suitcase, hops a freight train and sets off alone for Washington DC. TS maps everything – from his sister's movements when shucking corn, to the facial expressions of adults, to the gunshot that accidentally killed his brother the previous year. He lives on his parents' ranch in remote rural Montana and makes maps. A dizzyingly diverse, ambitious work which nevertheless remains accessible and engrossing. They have reasons for wanting the book.”Įvgenia Peretz is a Vanity Fair contributing editor.Summary: A child prodigy sets out across America, mapping his world and his journey in minute detail. Kind of ‘I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy.’ But then you just have to take a deep breath and be like, It’s O.K. “There are many days where I’m like, How did this happen to me? Why did this happen to me? I know so many great writers who are struggling to get their work published. Hitting the book-world jackpot has led him to continual reflection. He began his novel shortly after he enrolled in the writing program at Columbia, but unlike many writing students, he waited until he had a finished product to start worrying about the marketplace. A practicing Zen Buddhist, albeit the most animated one on the planet, he seems genuinely devoid of angst and ego. Like T.S., the author was fascinated with maps as a boy, and his penchant for digressions-and for sharing them-is boundless. Illustrated with witty marginalia (supposedly produced by its protagonist), it is also steeped in poignancy, humor, and wisdom. Spivet, about a 12-year-old genius cartographer from Montana, is like nothing you’ve ever picked up. The result was an advance from Penguin Press of just under a million, a rare coup for a first-time novelist. Recession? What recession? At a time when most of the book industry began creeping into hibernation, 29-year-old Reif Larsen had 10 publishers vying for his debut novel, The Selected Works of T.

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen