‘[Don Tillman] has almost transcended the boundaries of fiction to become a geek icon.’
— Guardian
As an autistic advocate and author I loved how Graeme Simsion approached the topic of autism. It resonated with my own experience.
— Yenn Purkis
The Rosie Project series comprises three novels featuring autistic protagonist Don Tillman: The Rosie Project (2013), The Rosie Effect (2014) and The Rosie Result (2019) plus Don Tillman’s Standardized Meal System. Two stand-alone stories featuring Don are included in Creative Differences and Other Stories. The series has sold more than 6 million books in 40 languages.
‘An extraordinarily clever, funny, and moving book about being comfortable with who you are and what you’re good at…This is one of the most profound novels I’ve read in a long time.’
— Bill Gates
‘Funny and heartwarming, a gem of a book.’
— Marian Keyes
‘1930s screwball comedy updated for 2013…like those films, underscored with writing meticulously judged…Extremely loud and incredibly long applause.’
— Age/SMH/Canberra Times/Brisbane Times
‘Quietly profound.’
— Independent
‘It’s not hard to see why the Rosie novels have been welcomed by the autism community…Simsion’s message of inclusiveness and embracing differences is lovely…’
— NPR
‘One of the most endearing, charming and fascinating literary characters I have met in a long time.’
— The Times
‘The charm of this story is Simsion’s affectionate depiction of his strange, flawed, infuriating, logical and always amusing protagonist.’
— Weekend Australian
‘ Don Tillman is utterly and beautifully unique and, be warned, you will fall in love with him.’
— Australian Women’s Weekly
‘What an endearing, funny book… A must read.’
— Courier Mail/Daily Telegraph
‘One of the quirkiest, most adorable novels I’ve come across… a brilliant first novel from a mature, clever writer.’
— NZ Herald on Sunday
‘Graeme Simsion has created perhaps the first thoroughly comic autistic hero…’
— Guardian
‘Funny, endearing, and pure, wonderful escapism.’
— Independent
‘…Simsion has fashioned a very funny and touching love story… a clever satire on modern, internet-led dating…
— Sunday Express
‘ found the crack in our seemingly interminable winter to let laughter and light flood in.’
— Sunday Times UK
‘[Don Tillman is] one of the most endearing, charming and fascinating literary characters I have met in a long time.’
— The Times
‘Crackling with wit and boasting an almost perfectly calibrated heartbreak-to-romance ratio…joins ranks with the best romantic comedies of our age.’
— Globe and Mail Canada
‘ You’ll be laughing out loud at Don’s misadventures.’
— Daily Mail
‘ a completely charming story that is as engaging as it is funny.’
— Independent
Don Tillman is getting married. He just doesn’t know who to yet.
But he has designed the Wife Project, using a sixteen-page questionnaire to help him find the perfect partner. She will most definitely not be a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver.
Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also fiery and intelligent and beautiful. And on a quest of her own to find her biological father—a search that Don, a professor of genetics, might just be able to help her with.
The Wife Project teaches Don some unexpected things. Why earlobe length is an inadequate predictor of sexual attraction. Why quick-dry clothes aren’t appropriate attire in New York. Why he’s never been on a second date. And why, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love: love finds you.
‘I didn’t have autism explicitly in mind when I wrote The Rosie Project. I was just drawing on a kind of person that I’d met throughout my life, from being a science geek as a kid, amateur radio, a physics degree, working in information technology. I didn’t read any clinical descriptions and I think that’s the strength of the characterisation: it comes from people I’ve known, been friends with, loved, rather than a concept of a disease or deficit.
– GCS
65 weeks on the NYT bestseller list
No. 1 bestseller in Canada, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Israel, Taiwan…
Winner, Australian Book Industry Awards, Best Novel and Book of the Year, 2014
Winner, Victorian Premier’s Award for Best Unpublished Manuscript, 2012
Shortlisted, ABA Nielsen BookData Booksellers Choice Award, 2014
Shortlisted, The Indie Awards, 2014
Shortlisted, Waverton Good Read Award, United Kingdom, 2014
Longlisted, International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, Ireland, 2015
Independent: The 10 greatest love stories in literature
Booktopia interview
Readings
Shearer’s Bookshop interview
Joan’s Pick (Whitcoulls NZ)
The Small Picture Podcasts
ABC Radio Perth review
Boomerang Books profile
The Wheeler Centre Q&A
Radio NZ interview
Australian Writers’ Centre podcast
BBC Radio 2 interview
Canberra Readers, Writers and Storytellers Festival
Tom Ballard podcast: What’s the Story?
Independent
‘I had concluded that being myself, with all my intrinsic flaws, was more important than having the thing I wanted most.’
— The Rosie Effect
‘[A] romantic comedy that’s just as smart, funny and heartwarming as the original.’
— Washington Post
‘A wholly absorbing, vivid read that leaves you pining to be reunited with its characters every time you put it down—if you’re able to.’
— Independent
‘Unlike most sequels, this second book is very close to being as good as the first…The writing is witty and the characters charming,,,’
— Dominion Post
‘This good-hearted, pacy, thoroughly enjoyable novel takes a significant step towards showing that all human variants are a potential source of life‑affirming comedy.’
— Guardian
‘Don Tillman…is a gem, an empirical laser trained on human shortcomings, Through him, Simsion…deals with issues of nature, nurture, gender, free will and the vagaries of the human heart with a deceptively light touch.’
— Evening Standard
‘ no less than classic Hitchcockian suspense…’
— NPR
‘There’s no sophomore [second-novel] slump here…It’s a funny novel that also made me think about relationships: what makes them work and how we have to keep investing time and energy to make them better. A sweet, entertaining, and thought-provoking book.’
— Bill Gates
‘Don Tillman helps us believe in possibility, makes us proud to be human beings, and the bonus is this: he keeps us laughing like hell. I’d love to have a beer with the humane and hilarious Graeme Simsion.’
— Matthew Quick, New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Lining Playbook
‘Don himself, pedantically single-focused as ever, is increasingly charismatic and the left-field resolution of his problems is as satisfyingly credible as it is delightfully unexpected.’
— Adelaide Advertiser
‘Very sweet, very wry.’
— West Australian
‘The Rosie Effect is a successful sequel…with a memorable main character and plenty of heart.’
— Weekend Australian
‘As endearing as its predecessor.’
— NW
‘Another rollicking ride. I can only hope the madcap journey isn’t over yet.’
— Otago Daily Times
‘Don’s struggle to fit in with “ordinary” society makes for charming reading and the novel has insightful as well as comic moments.’
— NZ Herald on Sunday
‘This charming new chapter in the Tillman chronicles leaves you hoping it won’t be the last.’
— People
‘[A] winning sequel…The Rosie Effect is a celebration of the best attributes to be found in a friend, a husband, or a father, regardless of the way they are expressed.’ STARRED Review
— Booklist
‘Brilliantly funny.’
— International Traveller
‘In Simsion’s hands, Don’s voice once again shines as one of the most unique in contemporary fiction.’
— Everyday Ebook
‘We’ve got something to celebrate,’ Rosie said.
I am not fond of surprises, especially if they disrupt plans already in place. I assumed that she had achieved some important milestone with her thesis. Or perhaps she had been offered a place in the psychiatry-training programme. This would be extremely good news, and I estimated the probability of sex at greater than 80%.
‘We’re pregnant,’ she said.
Don Tillman and Rosie Jarman are now married and living in New York. Don has been teaching while Rosie completes her second year at Columbia Medical School. Just as Don is about to announce that Gene, his philandering best friend from Australia, is coming to stay, Rosie drops a bombshell: she’s pregnant.
In true Tillman style, Don instantly becomes an expert on all things obstetric. But in between immersing himself in a new research study on parenting and implementing the Standardised Meal System (pregnancy version), Don’s old weaknesses resurface. And while he strives to get the technicalities right, he gets the emotions all wrong, and risks losing Rosie when she needs him most.
The Rosie Effect is as charming and hilarious as its predecessor.
New York Times Bestseller
No. 1 Globe and Mail Bestseller, Canada
Shortlisted, Indie Book Awards, 2015
Shortlisted, Nielsen BookData Booksellers Choice Award, 2015
Shortlisted, Australian Book Industry General Fiction Award, 2015
‘Resilience appeared to be the equivalent of toughening up, which, when I was a child, was a general excuse for bullying.’
— The Rosie Result
‘Eloquent, and insightful, The Rosie Result is a triumphant conclusion to Don’s story, one that celebrates this remarkable father, husband, and friend in all his complexity and brilliance.
— Booklist (starred review)
[A] thoughtful and provocative novel [with] a grand design that will have relevance in the lives of many individual readers…
— Age
‘Heart-warming and clever’
— Daily Mail
‘Deals with issues of nature, nurture, gender, free will and the vagaries of the human heart with a deceptively light touch.’
— Evening Standard
‘Simsion hits just the right balance between serious literary exploration of social issues and the delightfully humorous (mis)adventures of an unusual but good-intentioned modern family…
— New York Journal of Books
‘It’s a pleasure to inhabit Don’s rational mindset again’
— Australian
‘The comedy is still there but there’s a philosophical seriousness to this one, which brings the whole issue much closer to home. I liked it very much and I recommend it.’
— The Bookshelf, Radio National
‘It is an ambitious task: writing a light and engaging novel while incorporating a serious topic in an inclusive manner. But Simsion pulls it off, maintaining a strong sense of characterisation and narrative, all the while encouraging readers to question their own values.’
— Conversation
‘For a read that appears light on the surface, The Rosie Result contains a lot of depth… the strongest book in the series…’
— Reader NZ
Graeme Simsion breaks open the ‘A’ word by smashing preconceived prejudices and stereotypes
— Kathy Hoopmann, author of All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome
‘An engaging story full of wit and humour, yet sensitive and sad at times too.’
— Weekly Times
‘Expect lots of laughs and plenty to ponder over.’
— SA Weekend
‘Graeme Simsion tackles some of the heavy issues of our day – autism, gender roles, political correctness – but his light touch makes this novel a fun and satisfying read.’
— Sunday Express S Magazine
‘[T]his is a must-read; for everyone, it is uplifting, eye-opening and definite food for thought.’
— My Weekly
‘Simsion delivers a brave attempt at asking important questions without compromising his characters’ respective journeys, nor losing his trademark mix of humour and emotion…The resolution feels earned and genuinely heartwarming.
— Independent
‘although [Don’s] social awkwardness gives rise to many genuinely funny moments, the laughs are never cheap or mean…’
— Otago Daily Times
‘the ideal ending to the trilogy.’
— Publishers Weekly
‘ the emotionally raw conclusion to an endearing series, and it will surely leave readers satisfied.’
— BookTrib
‘…a fitting conclusion to a trilogy that explores the human condition in a uniquely nuanced way.’
— San Francisco Chronicle
‘Simsion returns to comic form seamlessly…A meditation on parenting in our times, an indictment of discrimination and a fond farewell to a one-of-a-kind character.’
— Shelf Awareness
‘Clever, moving and laugh out loud funny.’
— Toronto Sun
I was standing on one leg shucking oysters when the problems began…
Don Tillman and Rosie Jarman are back in Australia after a decade in New York, and they’re about to face their most important challenge.
Their son, Hudson, is struggling at school: he’s socially awkward and not fitting in. Don’s spent a lifetime trying to fit in—so who better to teach Hudson the skills he needs?
The Hudson Project will require the help of friends old and new, force Don to decide how much to guide Hudson and how much to let him be himself, and raise some significant questions about his own identity.
Meanwhile, there are multiple distractions to deal with: the Genetics Lecture Outrage, Rosie’s troubles at work, estrangement from his best friend Gene…
And opening the world’s best cocktail bar.
Hilarious and thought-provoking, with a brilliant cast of characters, The Rosie Result is the triumphant final instalment of the much-loved and internationally bestselling Rosie trilogy.
Read a sample chapter of The Rosie Result.
As the series progressed, particularly with The Rosie Result which was written a decade after I began The Rosie Project, I became more aware of and involved in the autism community, and, given the volume of sales, realised that the books were going to be influential in how readers perceived autism. So, I did my best to get it right, recognising that autism presents in different ways in different people. In The Rosie Result, we have multiple autistic characters, and I think that’s unusual: you think of a book or TV series or movie featuring autism, and usually there’s only one autistic person. But birds of a feather …’
— GCS
2SER: Final Draft
2SER: Tuesday Book Club
3CR (15:00)
3RRR: Backstory (0:11:30)
ABC Radio National: The Book Show
ABC Radio: Evenings (2:30:00)
ABC Radio: Nightlife (1:00:00)
ABC Radio: Saturday Breakfast
ABC Radio Hobart: Your Afternoon ( 1:42:00)
ABC Radio Perth: Drive
ABC Radio Southwest Victoria (autoplay)
Age
Australian ($)
Australian Financial Review ($)
Booktopia
Booktrib
BreakThru Radio: Book Talk
Canberra Times
Cass Moriarty
Channel 10: Studio 10 Book Club
The Conversation
Entertainment Weekly
Global News Canada (video autoplay)
Guardian: Bookmark This
Herald Sun ($)
Hope FM: Hope Book Club
Independent (UK)
Library Journal (starred review)
Library Journal
Mary Dalmau ‘The Rosie trilogy is deserving of the accolades it has garnered and The Rosie Result is the best possible goodbye to the world of Don Tillman.’
Mum’s Lounge: 18 Books to Add to Your Must-Read List This Summer
New Daily
Newstalk ZB
Not Weird Just Autistic podcast
The Osher Günsberg Podcast: Episode 1
The Osher Günsberg Podcast: Episode 2
Radio National (approx. 48:00) ‘The comedy is still there but there’s a philosophical seriousness to this one, which brings the whole issue much closer to home. I liked it very much and I recommend it.’
Radio National: All in the Mind
Radio New Zealand
The Reader (Booksellers NZ Blog)
San Francisco Chronicle
Shelf Awareness
Sydney Morning Herald: Good Weekend
Toronto Sun
Wheeler Centre podcast
Your Second Draft ‘The Rosie Result is a funny, generous and thoughtful trip through finding fulfilment and living with the choices we make.’
‘So, you cook this same meal every Tuesday, right?’
‘Correct.’ I listed the eight major advantages of the Standardised Meal System.
1. No need to accumulate recipe books.
2. Standard shopping list—hence very efficient shopping.
3. Almost zero waste—nothing in the refrigerator or pantry unless required for one of the recipes.
4. Diet planned and nutritionally balanced in advance.
5. No time wasted wondering what to cook.
6. No mistakes, no unpleasant surprises.
7. Excellent food, superior to most restaurants at a much lower price (see point 3).
8. Minimal cognitive load required.
‘Cognitive load?’
‘The cooking procedures are in my cerebellum—virtually no conscious effort is required.’
‘Like riding a bike.’
‘Correct.’
Here at last, by popular demand, is the weekly system of food preparation that Professor Don Tillman, star of the Rosie trilogy, lives by—everything from his signature lobster salad to the world’s best risotto, across the four seasons. This essential guide also includes handy tips about losing weight, mixing cocktails and stress-free entertaining.
Don Tillman’s Standardized Meal System will not only show you how to make delicious meals: it will open your mind to a different way of shopping, cooking and living. The Don Tillman way.
‘Writing this little book was probably not the smartest use of my time – testing the recipes took forever. And if you’re looking for a recipe book, you can surely do better. DTSMS is really a vehicle for sharing a bit more of Don Tillman’s quirky but (usually) rational approach to life – and particularly to cooking and entertaining, which can occupy more than their share of brain space. At one time I saw it as a precursor to a column ‘What would Don do?’ and I have to admit that I’ve asked myself that question at times of crisis. I used to say that if I got one good idea out of a conference session or popular business book, I’d consider I’d done well. Hopefully there are enough life hacks in here to justify the purchase.’
— GCS
‘I didn’t really do cocktails – I’m more of a wine guy – till I had to research them for The Rosie Project. Now I drink them more often than is healthy.’
— GCS
Yuzu Margarita
(Created using Don Tillmans’ Sour Generator)
2 shots blanco tequila
1 shot fresh lime juice
1/2 shot yuzu syrup
Shake with lots of ice for at least 45 seconds (critical!) and pour into chilled coupes, optionally salt-rimmed.
