- Paperback: 205 pages
- Publisher: MacAdam/Cage Publishing (October 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0967370167
- ISBN-13: 978-0967370163
- Product Dimensions: 23.5 x 15.9 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 408 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,486,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
laywright Dunn tries his hand at fiction in this "progressively lipogrammatic epistolary fable," and the result is a novel bursting with creativity, neological mischief and clever manipulation of the English language. The story takes place in the present day on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina, where over a century earlier, the great Nevin Nollop invented a 35-letter panagram (a phrase, sentence or verse containing every letter in the alphabet). As the creator of "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," Nollop was deified for his achievement. The island's inhabitants live an anachronistic existence, with letter-writing remaining the principal form of communication. Life seems almost utopian in its simplicity until letters of the alphabet start falling from the inscription on the statue erected in Nollop's honor, and the island's governing council decrees that as each letter falls, it must be extirpated from both spoken and written language. Forced to choose from a gradually shrinking pool of words, the novel's protagonists a family of islanders seek ways to communicate without employing the forbidden letters. A band of intrepid islanders forms an underground resistance movement; their goal is to create a shorter panagram than Nollop's original, thereby rescinding the council's draconian diktat. The entire novel consists of their letters to each other, and the messages grow progressively quirkier and more inventive as alternative spellings ("yesters" for "yesterday") and word clusters ("yellow sphere" for "sun") come to dominate the language. Dunn obviously relishes the challenge of telling a story with a contracting alphabet. Though frequently choppy and bizarre, the content of the letters can easily be deciphered, a neat trick that elicits smiles. Wordsmiths of every stripe will appreciate this whimsical fable, in which Dunn brilliantly demonstrates his ability to delight and captivate.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-With shades of Kurt Vonnegut, George Orwell, and William PŠne du Bois, Ella Minnow Pea is delightfully clever from start to finish. It's set on Nollop, a fictional island off the coast of South Carolina named for its long-dead founder, Nevin Nollop, the "genius" who came up with "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog." A huge cenotaph of Nollop's sentence stands over the town square-and one day, the "z" falls to the ground. Nollop's elected-for-life Council interprets this as a missive from beyond the grave, "that the letter `Z' should be utterly excised-fully extirpated-absolutely heave-ho'ed from our communal vocabulary!" Other letters soon follow, and the novel becomes progressively lipogrammatic (a "lipogram" being writing in which one or more letters are forbidden), told exclusively in the form of letters from one citizen to another as they struggle to adapt (a third offense means banishment). Not even the discovery that the glue holding the letters up is calcifying sways the zealots on the Council (perhaps Nollop intended its deterioration). It's decided that only the construction of another sentence that uses every alphabet letter in only 32 graphemes could discredit Nollop's "divine" word. Dunn plays his setup to the hilt, and the result is perfect for teens fond of wicked wit, wordplay, and stories that use the absurd to get at the serious.
Emily Lloyd, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Emily Lloyd, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Thank you for the lovely postcards. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Thank you for the lovely postcards. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
One Note,
By A Customer
This review is from: Ella Minnow Pea (Paperback)
This book is pure schtick and once you get it you will be bored. Don't waste your money.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Linguistic fun,
By A Customer
This review is from: Ella Minnow Pea (Paperback)
This is a charming read that's part puzzle, part satire, and pure fun all the way through.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Sweet Satire,
By Diana (Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ella Minnow Pea (Paperback)
This is one of the best books that I have read recently. The premise is so unique and the story is hilarious. Another reviewer mentioned that the characters were flat. I noticied the same thing, but I think that was intentional. Like the subtitle says, this book is a fable and the characters - like the story - are not realistic. Ella Minnow Pea is most certainly a satire, but it feels more like a bedtime story for grown-ups. It is a funny book with a moral and a lot of wit. Even though it address the dangers censorship and totalitarian government, you just can't help but to feel happy when you read Ella Minnow Pea.
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