The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet

'Reif Larsen's wonderful original debut, destined to please readers of all ages, is the Next Big Thing... echoes of Thomas Pynchon, Robert Coover and Nicholson Baker... a lively sophisticated narrative that looks to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' Irish Times

'It has the makings of a cult classic...a deliciously ambitious book, a confident blast of ideas - and a beautiful object' Time Out


T.S. Spivet is a genius mapmaker who lives on a ranch in Montana. His father is a silent 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. T.S. makes sense of it all by drawing beautiful, meticulous maps kept in innumerable colour-coded notebooks.He is brilliant, and the Smithsonian Institution agrees, though when they award him a major scientific prize they don't suspect for a moment that he is twelve years old.
So begins T.S.'s life-changing adventure, travelling two thousand miles across America to reach the awards dinner, the secret-society membership and the TV interviews that beckon. But is this what he wants? Do maps and lists explain the world? And why are adults so strange?


'Larson has made an impressive mark ... spectacularly funny' Sunday Times


'A wilfully original and diverting book ... you can see exactly why it caused publishers to sit up. It is charming and kooky' Observer

'Think Tom Sawyer with a passion for empirical science... one of the most original books of the year' Metro

'Fantastical, funny and delightfully original' Esquire

'Impossible to put down. Engagingly poignant and charmingly quirky ... Larsen is an accomplished writer, but he's also a hugely gifted illustrator ... It's a genius debut' Daily Mail

'T.S's voice - and scientific pencil - enchant the reader...spectacular' Guardian

'We believe in Spivet because Larsen gives us so much that is elegant and even pretty to look at. The book is beautifully produced yet the account of the train journey in this attractively naïve voice would be admirable even if it were not framed and accompanied by sketches' TLS

'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