A Key to Treehouse Living

by Elliot Reed

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Pub Date Sep 04 2018 | Archive Date Aug 31 2018

General Fiction (Adult)

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Description

A Key to Treehouse Living is the adventure of William Tyce, a boy without parents, who grows up near a river in the rural Midwest. In a glossary-style list, he imparts his particular wisdom on subjects ranging from ASPHALT PATHS, BETTA FISH, and MULLET to MORTAL BETRAYAL, NIHILISM, and REVELATION. His improbable quest—to create a reference volume specific to his existence—takes him on a journey down the river by raft (see MYSTICAL VISION, see NAVIGATING BIG RIVERS BY NIGHT). He seeks to discover how his mother died (see ABSENCE) and find reasons for his father’s disappearance (see UNCERTAINTY, see VANITY). But as he goes about defining his changing world, all kinds of extraordinary and wonderful things happen to him. Unlocking an earnest, clear-eyed way of thinking that might change your own, A Key to Treehouse Living is a story about keeping your own record straight and living life by a different code.

A Key to Treehouse Living is the adventure of William Tyce, a boy without parents, who grows up near a river in the rural Midwest. In a glossary-style list, he imparts his particular wisdom on...

A Note From the Publisher

LibraryReads nominations due by 7/20 and IndieNext nominations due by 7/9.

Advance Praise

“Disorienting, weirdly wise, indescribably transparent, impossibly recognizable. Fun, too.” - Joy Williams

“Powered in part by longing and a need to make odd associations add up, this very appealing novel emplys jellybeans and gypsies, tree forts and rafts, and a character known as El Hondero to trace the odd conjuring that this narrator brings us in on. A memorable debut.” - Amy Hempel

“A Key to Treehouse Living is a beautiful book that treats language, family, childhood, and storytelling as flexible, luminous, dangerous things. William Tyce is a narrator as compelling as Mark Haddon's Christopher John Francis Boone and Jonathan Safran Foer's Oskar Schell.” - Gavriel Savit

“Disorienting, weirdly wise, indescribably transparent, impossibly recognizable. Fun, too.” - Joy Williams

“Powered in part by longing and a need to make odd associations add up, this very appealing...

Available Editions

EDITION	Other Format
ISBN	9781947793040
PRICE	$19.95 (USD)

Additional Information

Average rating from 17 members

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Featured Reviews

Catherine S, Librarian

A mesmerizing tale told in an nontraditional manner. Who knew that reading a glossary list could tug at your heartstrings making you laugh and moan in pain? Part of me wishes the ending were a bit neater and well tied. I want to know that things worked out for this boy I became so invested in. The ending certainly pointed in that direction, but was no mean decisive. On the other hand, it felt very real, and when do any of us get a neatly tied conclusion to our struggles? An intriguing and haunting story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tin House Books for making an advance reading copy available for an honest review. (less)

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Pamela J, Reviewer

I loved, loved, loved this book. Writing about subjects alphabetically allows the reader a unique way of getting to know William Tyce, one of the most engaging protagonists to come along in years. A KEY TO TREEHOUSE LIVING is a short book, which makes it perfect to give to reluctant readers. It would be an especially good choice for high schoolers.