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

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.
Eileen Battersby, Irish Times

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

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

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

A wilfully original and diverting book … you can see exactly why it caused publishers to sit up. It is charming and kooky.
Tim Adams, 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

We believe in Spivet because Larsen gives us so much that is elegant and even pretty to look at. The book is beautifully produced with drawings and maps, 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.
Roz Kaveney, TLS

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

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,

Reif Larsen’s debut novel combines meticulous eccentricity with an amazingly broad appeal … the book is a thing of beauty in itself... TS’s voice – and scientific pencil – enchant the reader … TS’s journey – towards forgiveness, understanding, adulthood, love – is a familiar one, but the views are 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 with drawings and maps, 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

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,

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

Highly entertaining journey…Larsen will go on great things
Independent

Something very special…pure genius
Sarah Broadhurst, The Bookseller

a mind-bending journey into the strange world of Spivet [...] Magical
Metro

the real star of the show is Reif Larson, a first time American novelist…Some of the sly coming-of-age humour is reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn, but it is also very much a modern novel
Sally Cousins, Sunday Telegraph

An endearing and original coming-of-age story
Margaret Reynolds, The Times

A wilfully original and diverting book, full of carefully penned ephemera.
Tim Adams, Observer

The tale of map-obsessed outcast TS Spivet is captivating but it’s the intricate illustrations – from the temperamental family toaster to the trajectory of his father’s whiskey sips – that make this a rewardingly unique read.
Shortlist

Larsen’s achievement is to have created a quirky, engaging, painfully vulnerable hero – not to mention a book that’s truly lovely to look at, heavily illustrated throughout with examples of T.S.’s prize-winning maps and charts.
Daily Mail

Larsen’s debut is engaging… plenty of intelligent perceptions, and a generous smattering of Spivet’s drawings
Phil Baker, Sunday Times

The Selected Works of TS Spivet is a joy; a colourful feast of a book… few [books are] as bold as refreshing as Reif Larsen’s debut… The account of [Spivet’s] adventure is engrossing and full of allusions to classic American literature… There’s a lovely hand-crafted quality to the book, and even in paperback form it is a beautiful object
David Evans, Independent on Sunday, Christmas round up