The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet

by Reif Larsen
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A captivating, loveable novel of stunning originality and poignancy about a 12-year-old genius mapmaker: set to be an international bestseller.

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Synopsis

T.S. Spivet is a 12-year-old genius mapmaker who lives on a ranch in Montana. His father is a tight-lipped cowboy and his mother is a scientist who for the last twenty years has been looking for a mythical species of beetle. His brother has gone, his sister seems normal but might not be, and his dog – Verywell – is going mad. It’s odd, but then families are. T.S. makes sense of it all by drawing beautiful, meticulous maps kept in innumerable colour-coded notebooks: maps of the countryside, maps of his family’s behaviour, maps of animal and plant life. He is brilliant, and the Smithsonian Institution agrees, though when they telephone with news that he has won a major scientific prize they don’t suspect for a minute that he is twelve years old.So begins T.S.’s life-changing adventure, fleeing in the dead of night, riding freight trains two thousand miles across America to reach the awards dinner, the fame, the secret-society membership and the TV appearances that beckon. But is this what he wants? Do maps and lists explain the world? And why are adults so strange?The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet is a story like no other: exhilarating, funny, endlessly charming and unbearably poignant. It is a journey through life’s mysteries great and small, and about how on earth a boy with a telescope, four compasses and a theodolite should set about solving them.

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May 31

Stray Questions for Reif Larsen

by Random House Australia on 31 May 2009

Stray Questions for Reif Larsen 0 comments

THE SELECTED WORKS OF T.S. SPIVET has been hailed as 'a completely original and mind-boggling book, with heart, soul - and maps! I defy anyone not to be hooked and beguiled', as well as, 'This book is genius. It's a Russian doll of a thing - a work of art, an encyclopaedia, and an almost unbearably touching novel.'   THE SELECTED WORKS OF T.S. SPIVET is now in all...

May 19

James Tait Black Memorial Prizes Shortlist Announced

by Random House Australia on 19 May 2010

James Tait Black Memorial Prizes Shortlist Announced 0 comments

Authors A. S. Byatt and Reif Larson have been shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, awarded by the University of Edinburgh.

Editorial Reviews

"Here is a book that does the impossible: it combines Mark Twain, Thomas Pynchon, and Little Miss Sunshine. Good novels entertain; great ones come as a gift to the readers who are lucky enough to find them. This book is a treasure" - Stephen King

"Takes this novel beyond the accepted margins of literature...hailed by Stephen King as a cross between Thomas Pynchon and Little Miss Sunshine" - Dazed and Confused

"Fantastically charming, funny, and smart. I felt my brain growing as I read it. Who knew the combination of cartography and adolescence could prove to be so touching and so much fun?" - Gary Shteyngart, author of ABSURDISTAN

"I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like it" - Scott Pack, Publisher and book blogger

"What a completely original and mind-boggling book, with heart, soul - and maps! I defy anyone not to be hooked and beguiled" - Roger Bratchell, Marketing Director

"This book is genius. It's a Russian doll of a thing - a work of art, an encyclopaedia, and an almost unbearably touching novel" - Rachel Cugnoni, Publisher, Vintage

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