for love of the book: the selected works of t. s. spivet by reif larsen

A treasure in the hands. And the second time this spring that a book has found its way to me that makes me believe that the physical book will never be completely replaced by the electronic or digital equivalent. Because they are not truly equal. The printed book will reinvent itself. As in the cases of The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet and The Doorbells of Florence, the book will reinvent itself as art. But I am getting ahead of myself in my excitement.

The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet is a fictional story of a 12 year old cartographer, a child with unique intelligence, obsessions, and talents. A young man who maps his thoughts and experiences as you will see in the margins of this extra wide text. Mourning the death of his brother, he takes off cross country from Montana to Washington DC to claim a prize that the Smithsonian is bestowing upon him. And this is the story of his travel, both in words and graphics.

Am only a fourth or third of the way in, but was just so giddy about the whole thing that I needed to share now. Just like the three and four year olds at my school anxious to show me something, I am jumping up and down waving this book at people. An excerpt from Chapter 1:

“The phone call came late one August afternoon as my older sister Gracie and I sat out on the back porch shucking the sweet corn into the big tin buckets. The buckets were still peppered with little teeth-marks from this past spring, when Verywell, our ranch hound, became depressed and turned to eating metal. 

Perhaps I should clarify. When I say that Gracie and I were shucking the sweet corn, what I actually mean is that Gracie was shucking the corn and I was drawing a diagrammatic map in one of my little blue spiral notebooks of precisely how she was shucking the corn. 

All of my notebooks were color-coded. The blue notebooks that neatly lined the south wall of my room were reserved for "Maps of People Doing Things," as opposed to the green notebooks on the east wall, which contained zoological, geological, and topographical maps, or the red notebooks on the west wall, which was where I mapped out insect anatomy in case my mother, Dr. Clair Linneaker Spivet, ever called upon my services. 

I had once tried lining maps on the south wall of my room, but in my excitement to organize, I briefly forgot that this was where the entrance to my room was located, and when Dr. Clair opened the door to announce that dinner was ready, the bookshelf fell on my head. 

I sat on my Lewis and Clark carpet, covered in notebooks and shelving. "Am I dead?" I asked, knowing that she would not tell me, even if I was. 

"Never let your work trap you into a corner," Dr. Clair said through the door.”

Was very skeptical about this book and the stories of the bidding war that escalated to a $900,000 advance from Penguin for first time 29 year old author Larsen. But now that seems irrelevant. I think Penguin wisely invested in something incomparably beautiful, something that serves as paradigm for the future of the printed book. Guess what I will be reading and staring at this weekend.

Comments

[cbjames]

This looks like lots of fun. I'm adding it to my list. And, I'm seriously thinking about joining in on the 2666 read-a-long.

[Sandy]

You are so cute, I can just imagine you jumping around. And for good reason. This book is soooo cool. You cannot reproduce something like this on anything but good old fashioned paper!

[claire]

I would loooove that book! Thanks for adding another title to my wishlist.. I can always count on you for that. :D

[tuesday]

Wow, this is amazing! I love books like this! Can you tell I'm excited?! I'm very excited!

[softdrink]

You always post about the most gorgeous books. Thanks for this review!

[ds]

I've seen this book, and it is every bit as beautiful as you say, with a fascinating story to boot. Thanks for the review. Also, I would like to thank you for the package that arrived at my door today, courtesy of Hachette, from your giveaway; it's very exciting, and I can't wait to delve into the world of fin de siecle Paris, the Louvre, and the detective who sounds a little like Sherlock Holmes. I've never won anything before; I hope this is the proper way to acknowledge it. Thank you again.

[Audrey]

And may I be the second fan of yours to thank you for my book? I was like Holmes, always searching for it until I found it on my porch. And today's review has made me determined to not limit how much a book costs, but what I get from it. I expect much mental joy and as much visual.

[Vasilly]

I started seeing reviews for this book a week ago. I've already put it on hold at my library. I've been hearing bad things about the ending so I can't wait to read what you thought of it. Happy reading!

[Jackie]

This is a beautiful book! Anyone that hasn't seen it yet, you must get to your local bookstore and check it out!
I also want to says thanks because I received my copy of The Crimes of Paris yesterday and hope to start reading it next week.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

[mrscoffee]

After reading your post I have to buy this book. It's sounds great. Now I'm waiting to start the reading. Thanks for posting this.
Have a nice day!

[Biblibio]

Indeed, this appears to be an interesting book. I always enjoy books that add something special in addition to writing.

[Elizabeth]

Oh, I JUST picked this up from the library - I can't wait to dive in!

[Sarah]

Hurray, I was already excited for this book and now I'm even more so. I can't wait for my library to get it - or maybe I just can't wait, and I'll have to dart into the nearest bookstore. Thanks for posting!

[lena]

I'm reading a book a lot like this in terms of the cool, creative art embedded into the text and whatnot. I'm also writing a paper on multimedia literature (when am I not writing a paper lately?) - I really do need to throw this on the top of my TBR list - this sounds fascinating and how can you resist a cover so gorgeous?

[melanie]

This definitely looks like a book to get excited about. Thanks for sharing.

[Sarah]

This book sounds fascinating, especially because I love maps! I will have to look for it!

[Mark David]

Hmm... looks very interesting. I sure hope I can find a copy in bookstores :)

[Mark David]

And yes, by the way, I agree that the printed form is simply irreplaceable. I love the physicality of a printed book, the way I can touch and smell it is part of the reading experience for me :)

[Lansing Pugh]

Am I the only one in the world that notices the error in logic when Larsen writes "on the south wall of my room" when in fact the door is clearly on the north wall of the room according to his drawing on the previous page? I guess no one else has the same passion for maps and architecture that I do?