How I spent my evening in Borders

May 13, 2009 at 10:39 AM
2 comments

Yesterday I was listening to the Dian Ream Show on NPR yesterday, and Diane was interviewing an author who had written a unique book called "The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet". The book sounded intriguing, and my interest was specifically piqued when I heard that the website was geared to help uncover what was truth in the book, and some of the outcome and fallout afterward.
I went to borders at about 6:15 in the evening, intending to check out the book. It's not the size of a regular book, as the book, for reasons I'll get into in my review, and I was particularly struck by the review Steven King Gave it.

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.

I looked at the cost, and it was quite pricey for a book, and so I figured I would read a chapter and see if I felt it could be justified as a purchase.

3 and 1/2 hrs later I close the book with a feeling of great awe. It was amazing. Yes I read the book from cover to cover in my little seat at Borders! (and also found that I could get it 12 dollars cheaper at Amazon.com). This book is amazing! Truly!

The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet

Reif Larsen

So here is my review.

Tecumseh Sparrow Spivet lives on a ranch in Montana with an older sister (the girl pop crazy Grace) and a mom who has spent 29 years looking for an elusive (perhaps non existent) species of Beetle, and a dad who runs the ranch. You also meet VeryWell the dog, and hear about an older brother Layton, who tragically died the previous year. What sets T.S. appart is that he maps everything. His first map was to demonstrate how to shake hands with God. He maps conversation patterns at the dinner table, and how his sister shucks corn, and the regularity with which his dad sips whiskey. He is a prodigy, and his works are seen in evidence throughout the margins of the book.
The story in itself is lovely. This little 12 yr old boy has been entered (without his knowlege) into a competition at the Smithsonian, Americas Attic itself, and wins. They don't know his age, they think he's an accomplished scientist and cartographer. T.S. himself just wants to be noticed by his parents. He takes off on a cross country trip to get to the Smithsonian to give his acceptance speech. The book chronicles his journey. What is remarkable are his notations and maps that fill the margins of this book. They are true jems. I learned things, I felt things, I laughted, and wanted to hold this little boy close and tell him how special he is.
Even better, the website is built in a unique way so that you can delve deeper into his world and then learn more of what has happened to him, and the people in his life.

So soon the book will be on it's way from Amazon for me. I can hardly wait to read it again.
I cannot recommend this book enough. So far from ordinary, so deep, so rich.

It also has a special place in my heart as I've attempted to give books to the little people in my world full of notations and drawings in the margins, so that they can remember me, and be stirred to think. This book made me feel like that was worthwhile.