M.T. Anderson is an American author, primarily of novels for young adults. His picture books for younger readers include Handel, Who Knew What He Liked, a biography of the 18th century composer, and Me, All Alone, at the End of the World, which Newsday said was “a persuasive argument for a little solitude and space to think”. His enormously successful young adult books include Thirsty, Burger Wuss, Feed (dubbed “satire at its finest” by Kirkus Reviews and winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize), and the National Book Award-winning two volume epic novel The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing: Traitor to the Nation. Anderson says “it’s insulting to believe that teens should have a different kind of book than an adult should … if we’re going to ask our kids at age 18 to go off to war and die for their country, I don’t see any problem with asking them at age 16 to think about what that might mean.” He lives near Boston, Massachusetts. His visit is supported by Walker Books.
"M.T. Anderson Gives Young Adults What They Want: Complex Epic Tales They Can Get Lost" read the article from The Washington Post
Listen to M.T. Anderson talk about The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing
Read, or listen to M.T. Anderson read, an excerpt from Whales on Stilts
BOOKS
Thirsty
"People talk about the beauty of the spring, but I can't see it. The trees are brown and bare, slimy with rain. Some are crawling with new purple hairs. And the buds are bulging like tumorous acne, and I can tell that something wet, and soft, and cold, and misshapen is about to be born. And I am turning into a vampire." - from Thirsty
Burger Wuss
A deliciously piquant dish of burgers, bullies and revenge! Anthony is a wuss. He has never been able to stand up for himself. That is, until the day he finds his girlfriend, Diana, in someone else’s arms! Then Anthony vows revenge and devises The Plan. It begins with getting a job at O’Dermott’s, the burger restaurant where Turner (aka the guy who stole his girlfriend) happens to be a star employee. And it involves one anarchist, one condiment troll and one ’85 Oldsmobile named Margot. But when these ingredients are finally put together, will Anthony’s hunger for revenge be satisfied? And more importantly, will he ever prove he’s not a wuss?
"exquisitely funny"
-Viewpoint
Feed
This brilliantly ironic satire is set in a future world where television and computers are connected directly into people's brains when they are babies. The result is a chillingly recognizable consumer society where empty-headed kids are driven by fashion and shopping and the avid pursuit of silly entertainment-even on trips to Mars and the moon-and by constant customized murmurs in their brains of encouragement to buy, buy, buy.
Anderson gives us this world through the voice of a boy who, like everyone around him, is almost completely inarticulate, whose vocabulary, in a dead-on parody of the worst teenspeak, depends heavily on three words: "like," "thing," and the second most common English obscenity. He's even made this vapid kid a bit sympathetic, as a product of his society who dimly knows something is missing in his head. The details are bitterly funny-the idiotic but wildly popular sitcom called "Oh? Wow! Thing!", the girls who have to retire to the ladies room a couple of times an evening because hairstyles have changed, the hideous lesions on everyone that are not only accepted, but turned into a fashion statement. And the ultimate awfulness is that when we finally meet the boy's parents, they are just as inarticulate and empty-headed as he is, and their solution to their son's problem is to buy him an expensive car.
Although there is a danger that at first teens may see the idea of brain-computers as cool, ultimately they will recognize this as a fascinating novel that says something important about their world. (Ages 14 and older) -Patty Campbell
Handel Who Knew What He Liked
George Frideric Handel was not your everyday eighteenth-century composer. And in a manner befitting its subject, this witty, rigorously researched, and accessible biography captures Handel's essential spirit — from a child who smuggled a clavichord into the attic to make music against his father's orders to a young man who imported forty-five pounds of mountain snow to chill wine for a gala. Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner M. T. Anderson depicts not only Handel's triumphs but also his struggles, chronicling the illness, ill fortune, and despair that led to his greatest achievement, the Messiah. With impeccable detail and a wink at the reader, Kevin Hawkes illustrates this singular story of Handel and the music through which he lives on.
"Both illustration and text are characterized by a saucy style, impeccable pacing, and a richness of content, and the two harmonize splendidly." -School Library Journal (starred review)
Me, All Alone, at the End of the World
A thoughtful and lyrical homage to simplicity, self-reliance and solitude. A boy lives alone at the End of the World, hunting for treasures with old maps, finding fossils and whistling tunes. It's a peaceful, contemplative life and the boy is content. That is, until Mr Shimmer, Professional Visionary, arrives - with men and machines in tow - and decides to turn his paradise into a flashy tourist trap full of endless fun…An allegory of our times.
Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Volume 1: Traitor to the Nation
The first of two volumes set during the War of Independence in the American colonies. Raised by a group of rational philosophers known only by numbers, Octavian and his mother are the only persons in their household assigned names. As Cassiopeia entertains the house scholars with her beauty and wit, young Octavian begins to question the purpose behind his guardians' fanatical studies. Set against the disquiet of revolutionary Boston, M. T. Anderson's extraordinary novel takes place at a time when American Patriots rioted and battled to win liberty, while African slaves were entreated to risk their lives for a freedom they would never claim.
"Anderson’s imaginative and highly intelligent exploration of the horrors of human experimentation and the ambiguous history of America’s origins will leave readers impatient for the promised sequel ... The story digs deep under one’s skin." - The New York Times Book Review
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Volume 2: The Kingdom on the Waves
A fascinating portrait of betrayal - part gothic tale, part historical fiction - set against the backdrop of tragedy, slavery and war. In the second volume of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Octavian and Doctor Trefusis escape to Virginia where Octavian joins up with Lord Dunmore's troops, following the famous proclamation promising to liberate any slave that will fight for the British in the Revolutionary war. While there, Octavian reunites with Bono, fights in vicious battles, and falls desperately in love.