Synopses & Reviews
A brilliant, boundary-leaping debut novel tracing twelve-year-old genius map maker T.S.Spivet's attempts to understand the ways of the world
When twelve-year-old genius cartographer T.S. Spivet receives an unexpected phone call from the Smithsonian announcing he has won the prestigious Baird Award, life as normal-if you consider mapping family dinner table conversation normal-is interrupted and a wild cross-country adventure begins, taking T.S. from his family ranch just north of Divide, Montana, to the museum's hallowed halls.
T.S. sets out alone, leaving before dawn with a plan to hop a freight train and hobo east. Once aboard, his adventures step into high gear and he meticulously maps, charts, and illustrates his exploits, documenting mythical wormholes in the Midwest, the urban phenomenon of rims, and the pleasures of McDonald's, among other things. We come to see the world through T.S.'s eyes and in his thorough investigation of the outside world he also reveals himself.
As he travels away from the ranch and his family we learn how the journey also brings him closer to home. A secret family history found within his luggage tells the story of T.S.'s ancestors and their long-ago passage west, offering profound insight into the family he left behind and his role within it. As T.S. reads he discovers the sometimes shadowy boundary between fact and fiction and realizes that, for all his analytical rigor, the world around him is a mystery.
All that he has learned is tested when he arrives at the capital to claim his prize and is welcomed into science's inner circle. For all its shine, fame seems more highly valued than ideas in this new world and friends are hard to find.
T.S.'s trip begins at the Copper Top Ranch and the last known place he stands is Washington, D.C., but his journey's movement is far harder to track: How do you map the delicate lessons learned about family and self? How do you depict how it feels to first venture out on your own? Is there a definitive way to communicate the ebbs and tides of heartbreak, loss, loneliness, love? These are the questions that strike at the core of this very special debut.
Review
"They are minimalist in word count only, since Beachand#8217;s imagination ranges as widely as his protagonistsand#8230;.Just because a story is short, even really, really short, doesnand#8217;t mean it canand#8217;t contain multitudesand#8230;the cumulative effect is one of gravity, humor and convictionand#8230;.some of the experiments produce surprising and beautiful results."
and#8212;New York Times Book Review
"A dreamy collection of mini stories and illustrations..."
and#8212;New York Magazine
"Marvels of economy."
and#8212;New York Times T Magazine
"Beach has managed to pack each tiny tale with vivid descriptions and narratives that are at once funny, sad, and bracing."
and#8212;Studio 360
"Beach has conjured self-contained, snow-globe-like worlds that are, like the dog curled up by the staircase, perfect."
and#8212;Elle
"These thought-provoking vignettes from illustrator Lou Beach are funny, poetic, touching, sexy, twistedand#8212;scene-and-character sketches replete with bumpkins, criminals, angry teens, truckers, boozers, bimbos, animals, and sentient objects. Best savored one or two a day."
and#8212;Mother Jones
"[Beach's] ability to capture complex scenes in just a few strokes makes his first book of fiction a keeper . . . Every story here is sharpened to a point."
and#8212;The Observer's Very Short List
"Itand#8217;s rare to find a book as seamless and fascinating as Lou Beachand#8217;s 420 Characters."
and#8212;Baltimore Citypaper
"From the great collagist and graphic designer Lou Beach comes a mischievous montage of a different sort: a tiny book filled with tiny stories . . . tragic, absurd, and sweet by turns, each snip of a story is a gem, able to hold its own against more standard-length fare."
and#8212;Flavorwireand#160; (A Must-Read Pick for December)
"Bizarre and awesome."
and#8212;Bookslut
"This charming stocking stuffer proves just how muchand#160; "Beach injects these tidy depictions with...boundless, michievous imagination... Unforced, thoughtful, occasionally profound...sly, surprising, playful, puzzling--and great fun."
and#8212;Publishers Weekly
"Eclectic, vivid moments in time, delivered in the exacting limits of social media...bold, impulsive flash fiction... These moments are...theatrical, instantly recognizable and slide off the tongue with the cacophony of a Tom Waits riff. An adroit experiment that marries linguistic restraint to literary cool."
and#8212;Kirkus Reviews
"Sharp and driven by a droll wit...endearing and estranging...a sharp and wonderfully funny debut...these stories add up to something wonderful."
and#8212;Library Journal
"Renowned for his intricate collages, a suite of which are reproduced here in full color, Beach brings his great gift for unexpected juxtapositions to his brief yet richly evocative and crisply visualized tales. Linked by reappearing characters, these microdramas of malaise and desire have an outlaw element, wry humor, frissons of creepiness, and bursts of beauty. Drifting in time, Beachand#8217;s potent little stories tell of love and family gone horribly wrong, drunkenness and desperation, dreams and wonder . . . Beachand#8217;s concentrated improvisations are emotive, disarming, and resplendent."
and#8212;Booklist
"Holy shit! Those are great! ... May they last a thousand years and be chiseled in stone."
and#8212;Jonathan Lethem
"Lou Beach uses words with no sympathy for the reader. He beats us senseless with his brilliance."
and#8212;Terry Gilliam
"[Beach] understands narrative in a deep way."
and#8212;J. Robert Lennon
"Lou Beach is full of wit, mirth and intelligence."
and#8212;Gary Panter, Emmy Award-winning author of Jimbo in Purgatory
"In only a few sentences, he remarkably manages to evoke character, milieu and mood."
and#8212;Joe Frank, Peabody Award-winning radio personality
Synopsis
A boundary-leaping debut tracing a gifted young map maker's attempt to understand the ways of the world
When twelve-year-old genius cartographer T. S. Spivet receives an unexpected phone call from the Smithsonian announcing he has won the prestigious Baird Award, life as normal--if you consider mapping dinner table conversations normal--is interrupted and a wild cross-country adventure begins, taking T. S. from his family home just north of Divide, Montana, to the museum's hallowed halls.
There are some answers here on the road from Divide and some new questions, too. How does one map the delicate lessons learned about family or communicate the ebbs and flows of heartbreak, loneliness, and love?
Now a major motion picture directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and starring Kyle Catlett and Helena Bonham Carter.
Synopsis
This brilliant, boundary-leaping debut novel traces 12-year-old genius map-maker T.S. Spivet's attempts to understand the ways of the world.
Synopsis
Discover The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet for iPad. A boundary-leaping debut tracing a gifted young map maker’s attempt to understand the ways of the world
When twelve-year-old genius cartographer T. S. Spivet receives an unexpected phone call from the Smithsonian announcing he has won the prestigious Baird Award, life as normal—if you consider mapping dinner table conversations normal—is interrupted and a wild cross-country adventure begins, taking T. S. from his family home just north of Divide, Montana, to the museum’s hallowed halls.
There are some answers here on the road from Divide and some new questions, too. How does one map the delicate lessons learned about family or communicate the ebbs and flows of heartbreak, loneliness, and love?
Synopsis
The debut fiction project of an acclaimed artist and illustrator, 420 CHARACTERS is a collection of sharp and evocative miniature storiesand#160;first presentedand#160;as Facebook status updates.
Synopsis
Within this collection of miniature stories, entire worlds take shapeand#8212;some like our own, some hallucinatory fairylands--populated by heartsick cowboys, random criminals, lovers and drifters. In a dazzling narrative constellation, Beachand#8217;s characters contend with the strange and terrible and beautiful in life, and no outcome is certain. Begun as a series of Facebook status updates,
420 Characters marks a new turn in an acclaimed artist and illustratorand#8217;s career, and features original collages by the author.
About the Author
Reif Larsen's first novel, The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet, was a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into twenty-seven languages. A Montana Honor book, The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet was a finalist for the IndieBound Award, was short-listed for the Guardian First Book Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and is currently being released as a film in France and the United States.