The Broken Teaglass (Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Emily Arsenault (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2010 | Series: Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series

The dusty files of a venerable dictionary publisher . . . a hidden cache of coded clues . . . a story written by a phantom author . . . an unsolved murder in a gritty urban park -- all collide memorably in Emily Arsenault's magnificent debut, at once a teasing literary puzzle, an ingenious suspense novel, and an exploration of definitions: of words, of who we are, and of the stories we choose to define us.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Arsenault's quirky, arresting debut, two young lexicographers find clues to an old murder case hidden in the files at their dictionary company. Billy, the narrator, is a strapping recent grad with a football player's physique, a penchant for philosophy and a painful chapter in his past that he hasn't quite closed. Mona is a girls' college grad with an ambivalent relationship to her stepfather's wealth and a habit of falling for older, wiser men. The two are drawn together by tantalizing clues left—they assume by a former employee—in the company's citation files. As Billy and Mona spend more and more time hunched over the mysterious cits from a book called The Broken Teaglass, they realize the murder may involve colleagues and acquaintances who are still roaming around the office, and Billy struggles to overcome the challenges of entering the adult world and leaving his old life behind. The result is an absorbing, offbeat mystery–meets–coming-of-age novel that's as sweet as it is suspenseful. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

“A fascinating secret history is hidden within the pages of The Broken Teaglass.”—Christopher Barzak, author of One for Sorrow
 
“A beautifully written, engaging mystery.”—Dorothy Allison

“A literary gem.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Winningly unique.”—The Boston Globe
 
“A delight.”—The Wall Street Journal
 
“Quirky and inventive.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

“Written with both wit and grace . . . a rare find on today’s bookshelves.”—The Roanoke Times
 
“A delightful, quietly humorous, and offbeat mystery.”—Library Journal
 
“Compelling . . . an accomplished work.”—Hartford Courant
 
“The very definition of a promising debut.”—Booklist

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 536 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; Lrg edition (March 3, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1410424529
• ISBN-13: 978-1410424525
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,099,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A mystery with words as characters, September 29, 2009

By 

L. Schwemm (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Broken Teaglass: A Novel (Hardcover)

The journal reviews have presented this book as a mystery and a romance, and someone else described it as a young-adult novel targeted at 20-somethings, but I feel that both classifications are too limited. Billy, the main character, is extremely compelling, even to this middle-aged reader, and the mystery and romance definitely do not dominate Billy's development as he negotiates his way through the first few months at his first post-collegiate job. Arsenault vividly captures the environment of cubicles and office relationships/negotiations and I was reminded of my first job after college -- of trying to make sense of the people around me and the work that was being done, but this novel has much more to offer than a glimpse at office life. The setting of the dictionary company provides the opportunity to use words as an integral part of the story - and without these words Billy's story might have been just another tale of someone "finding himself." Instead, the words of the dictionary, and of the research files, and of the characters, weave themselves in and out of various lives -- from Billy's neighbors to his officemates to the countless people who contact the dictionary company for clarification and solace - and in and out of various times, from the beginning of the dictionary to the younger days of retired employees to Billy and his peers achieving adulthood.
Yes, there is mystery, there is a touch of romance, there is twenty-something angst, but there are intriguing characters that made me think and ponder and want to read more.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fascinating mystery, September 30, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Broken Teaglass: A Novel (Hardcover)

Billy Webb who just graduated from college begins working as a lexicographer at Samuelson Company publishers of an annual dictionary. Already employed there in a separate cubicle but in a similar editor assistant position is Mona Minot.

Mona begins to find some strange notes referencing a book THE BROKEN TEAGLASS. She shows her notes to Billy, but neither can find the tome. They conclude someone previously employed at Samuelson left the citations, but not why or what they refer to. As they dig deeper and begin to put meaning to the notes, they begin to believe a murder occurred and some of their cubicle mates may have been involved.

This is a fascinating mystery filled with suspense that hooks the audience who wonder along with the lead couple whether a homicide occurred and if some of the cubicle mates were involved. In some ways the story line is a coming of age transition tale as Billy struggles with the biggest life change he has ever faced having just graduated from college. Fans will enjoy this cerebral amateur sleuth as two young lexicographers search for the seemingly nonexistent BROKEN TEAGLASS.

Harriet Klausner

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could Have Been Better, Could Have Been Worse, November 2, 2010

By 

YankeeChick "Yankee" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Broken Teaglass: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a pretty good book overall. The plot summary has been done well in other reviews. I don't feel I wasted my time reading it--it was moderately interesting, I kind of liked some of the secondary characters a bit, the parts about how dictionaries are written was very interesting, the mystery is entertaining most of the time. Problems--sometimes it gets very draggy and runs on too long with no plot development, a weird plot twist about the main character getting cancer as a teen gets tossed in at the end with no real connection to the rest of the story, I don't care much for either of the main characters since they're passive & boring, and the final mystery is relatively disappointing after the big buildup. This was a good practice book for a new writer & I would read other books by the same author. The kernel of a very good book is here, it just gets lost in too many decorative layers.