Advance Praise & Reviews
Advance Praise:
In his highly addictive and multi-faceted first novel, Augustus Rose pits an irrepressible and gritty young heroine against a sinister group of fanatics. The Readymade Thief is a kickass debut from start to finish.
—Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad
The Readymade Thief is my favorite kind of book: an improbable one. This novel is a map of the things Augustus Rose loves — urban exploration, secret societies, the city of Philadelphia, Marcel Duchamp, very possibly the Home Alone movies — and if those things don’t seem to fit together, well, that’s the magic of the improbable book, and the transmutation of an author’s obsessions, by energy and intellect, into something wholly new: a novel that’s unexpected, uncategorizable, unputdownable.
—Robin Sloan, author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore
The Readymade Thief is a brilliant, suspenseful, and cinematic novel with an unforgettable heroine and a big story about art, the nature of consciousness, and all points in between. Be prepared to lose yourself in it.
—Edan Lepucki, author of California and Woman No. 17
I fell more than a little bit in love not just with Lee—the gutsy protagonist of Augustus Rose’s gorgeous debut novel, The Readymade Thief—but with the book itself. It’s a hypnotizing amalgamation of love story and mystery. I am in awe.
— Hannah Pittard, author of Listen to Me
In The Readymade Thief, Augustus Rose shows that he has one of the steadiest hands in fiction. How else to explain how effortlessly he complicates and expands the mystery at the heart of the novel, adding Marcel Duchamp, the Darknet, Urban Exploration, and a unified field theory along the way to such amazing effect. Each time I thought I had found my way to solid ground, another level opened up, and I eagerly tunneled deeper. Rose has crafted something memorable, crackling with energy, a truly wonderful tale.
—Kevin Wilson, author of The Family Fang
“The Readymade Thief is smart and strange, full of lovely Duchampian tricks and treats. Augustus Rose has infused his thriller with the true Dada spirit, nothing is quite what it seems. I loved it.”
—Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife
A rewarding novel full of pleasures and surprises. Every time I thought I knew where the story was going, it took me somewhere stranger and deeper than I could have imagined. A rich, heady mix of ideas and thrills.
—Charles Yu, author of How To Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe
Reviews:
“First novels as rich and enchanting as Augustus Rose’s The Readymade Thief don’t come around too often…”
—Vanity Fair (September 2017)
A “heart-pumping, totally addictive debut…” “The must-read of all must-reads.”
—Marie Claire (August 2017)
“Anyone who became addicted to the rolling emotions, betrayals, and violent showdowns of Breaking Bad will be seduced by Augustus Rose’s debut…” “Fiendishly intricate and relentlessly suspenseful…” “…stretches a reader’s intellect and empathy.”
—Oprah Magazine (September 2017)
“Cool, creepy debut.”
—People Magazine (August 21, 2017)
“Viscerally and intellectually exciting.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Once you start we dare you to try to put it down.”
—Harper’s Bazaar
“A literary cousin of ‘Special Topics of Calamity Physics’ with its wide range of allusions and intellectual gamesmanship.”
—The Chicago Tribune
“A strange, haunting epic. Rose blends the ordinary world and the underworld in a disturbing way.”
—Washington Independent Review of Books
“Defies categorization… a thoughtful and labyrinthine story that will keep readers on their toes.”
—The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“The Readymade Thief is sensational, chaotic ride. The instant I opened this book, I was hooked.”
—Fredericksburg.com
“Complex, twisty and full of suspense, the novel draws on art history and physics to give the mystery its intellectual thrust.”
—The Daily Mail
“A richly detailed intellectual thriller.”
—Publisher’s Weekly
“Drawing heavily on theories of art history and physics, and the mystery is deep and satisfying in both its unpredictability and its culmination.”
—Kirkus Review
“Readers who enjoy literary puzzles, or who are looking for something a little different, should look no farther than The Readymade Thief.”
—Shelf Awareness
“Rose nimbly pulls threads of pop culture, art history, science, and mysticism into an addicting knot of connections and possible conspiracies.”
—San Francisco Book Review
BBC 10 Books to Read in August: “Rose’s uncanny, near sublime first novel.”
The Readymade Thief makes the August 2017 Indie Next List
Seattle Times: “A strange and wonderful debut… wildly unpredictable, big-hearted and always fascinating.”
The Readymade Thief is 2017 Fall/Summer ABA Indies Introduce Adult Debut Title
A shout-out from San Francisco Magazine
Bustle: 11 Scary New Books Perfect For Your Campfire Reading This Summer
Michigan Avenue Magazine: Top 5 Beach-ready Reads from Chicago Authors
Chicago Magazine: Six Books to Put on Your Summer Reading List
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Chill out with these 20 Books for summer
Chicago Review of Books: 25 Books You Need to Read This Summer
The Observer: Top 10 Books to Read This Spring.
Murder & Mayhem: “like unearthing the Easter eggs in a Lynchian masterpiece.”
Pure Wow: 15 New Summer Thrillers That’ll Have You Sleeping with the Lights On
