The Trips

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“The Trips”
a novel by Aishvar Thavanathan
fiction
72 pages, perfect-bound paperback
with cover art by Jack Lloyd
published February 2024

When the Fluffs-Hop family climb into their electric car and embark on the long highway to Penticton, they have no idea how many simultaneous journeys they’re about to make together. If escaping Pencil Crane Street isn’t enough on its own, they’ll also: ride the emotional rollercoaster of Stephanie and Gary Pain’s marriage saga; sit shotgun in Pomo Jeterson II’s flying mail truck as he sends himself away from his former life of crime to deliver reconciliation to his long-lost sister; and defeat a giant spaghetti monster on the hunt for their father—or merely exit their father’s hunger-induced hallucination?

This is the world of The Trips, which provides at least as many precious souvenirs as bumps in the road. Some of these will be familiar to readers—new friends, first loves, a day at the beach—while others will be new: suburban houses embellished with kaleidoscopic engravings of stone fishes and spoons, flowers that glow like frosting, a cobweb-shrouded closet locked with a tiny radiant key. In this land, our tour guides are: Tetley Autofill Hop (our dutiful narrator), the mischievous, wisecracking Greenlee Hop (his little brother), the perpetually hangry Coconut Bread Hop, and the unflappable driver, Bunny Fluffs (their dad and mum).

In his first novel, the nineteen-year-old Aishvar Thavanathan showcases his relentless imagination, his unique sense of humour, and his generous attention to his characters. The Trips is as heartfelt as it is surreal—it’s sort of like the fever dream you wish you’d had, once the fever subsides. Buckle up.