Ampersand [Paperback]

Craig Conley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1440458898 | ISBN-13: 978-1440458897

A manual for typographers published in 1917 acknowledged that there are many beautiful forms of the ampersand, yet it forbade their use in "ordinary book work." Extraordinary books are another matter. This opus explores the history and pictography of our most common coordinating conjunction.

"Enjoyable on many levels. Visually it's quite elegant." --Ken Clinger, recording artist

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as "America"s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation." He has been called a "language fanatic" by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, and a "cult hero" by Publisher's Weekly. His website is OneLetterWords.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 94 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1440458898
• ISBN-13: 978-1440458897
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,004,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Words & Language > Communication

More About the Author

CRAIG CONLEY has been called "a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure" (Clint Marsh), "America's most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation" (Encarta), a "language fanatic" (Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams), and a "cult hero" (Publisher's Weekly). An eccentric scholar, Conley's ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the "virtual pet" in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular "Tamagotchi" in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley's ONE-LETTER WORDS: A DICTIONARY is published by HarperCollins, and his MAGIC WORDS: A DICTIONARY is published by Weiser Books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Hail the Ampersand!, February 24, 2009

By 

Janet Boyer "Author, Blogger, Mystic" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ampersand (Paperback)

And You Thought You Knew About the "and" Symbol!

Quirky lexiconographer and language fanatic Craig Conley pays homage to the oft-forgotten and overlooked symbol of the word "and", the lowly ampersand, in his entertaining and fascinating book Ampersand.

Filled with quotes, hilarious illustrations, historical tidbits, poetic usage and literary theory, Ampersand fills a gap in a true bibliophile's library--you know, the hole where utterly original, unusual and arguably trivial books are supposed to go.

About the sinuous ampersand, did you know that?:

* Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott's epic poem "Omeros" features an ampersand-shaped rectal thermometer in Hell

* The ampersand is the "single features most useful to examine first when looking for writers' handwriting idiosyncrasies, or when comparing two examples of writing to check whether they are in the same hand" (Peter Beal, A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology)

* In his poem "Meditation Celestial & Terrestrial", Wallace Stevens links heaven and earth with an ampersand

* The ampersand was the first ligature to win the game of Twister

* In olden times, children learning to write their alphabets would always end with the ampersand

Funny, absorbing and informative, Ampersand is a 93-page book that belongs on the shelf of everyone who loves etymology and curious tomes. And it's a safe bet that Ampersand would be a great gift for book lovers, too, since it's the only book (that I'm aware of) that is devoted entirely to &.

All hail the ampersand!

-- Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressed, January 31, 2010

By 

Kellie (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ampersand (Paperback)

This book was a gift for my brother-in-law and he loved it. The book turned up in great condition and was suitably packed to ensure it wasn't damaged. It turned up much quicker than I expected, especially to close to Christmas. I think it took a week to 10 days to arrive - not bad for US to Australia. If you are interested in the history of the ampersand and other interesting trivia about it, this is definitely the book to get.