When you think of famous literary adolescents, the characters Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield come immediately to mind. The most recent addition to this distinguished lineage is young William Tyce, growing up near a river in the rural Midwest, without a mother or father.
William is the protagonist and narrator of the new novel A Key to Treehouse Living by Elliot Reed, published by Portland-based Tin House Books. Elliot grew up in the American Midwest and the Czech Republic. He earned his MFA from the University of Florida in Gainesville, studying under Padgett Powell, and now lives in Spokane, Washington.
A Key to Treehouse Living is Elliot’s first novel. And we’re fortunate to have him live on the phone with us now, calling in from somewhere on the road.
You can see Elliot, in conversation with Arthur Bradford, at Powell’s City of Books, on Thursday, September 20th at 7:30 PM.
Elliot Reed author photograph by Holly Beth Pratt
- KBOO