The Young and Prodigious TS Spivet

(Paperback)

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Description

A captivating, loveable novel of stunning originality and poignancy about a 12-year-old genius mapmaker. Now a major motion picture from the director of 'Amelie', starring Helena Bonham Carter. Dear Spivet Family, I have gone for a while to do some work. Don't worry, I'll be fine. I didn't want to bother you by telling about it ahead of time. Thank you for taking care of me. You are one of the best families in the world. Love, T.S. T.S. makes sense of his chaotic family life 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

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 *
Larsen has made an impressive mark ... spectacularly funny * Sunday Times *
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 *
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 *
Fantastical, funny and delightfully original * Esquire *

Author Bio

Reif Larsen is the author of The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet which was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and has now been made into a film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of Amelie. He studied at Brown University and has taught at Columbia University. His essays and fiction have appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, Tin House, The Millions and The Believer. He lives in Scotland.