Customer Reviews

The Broken Teaglass (Thorndike Press Large Print Basic Series)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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

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.

This is a thoughtful, interesting story. It was on my reading list, but I was put off by some of the reviews and kept moving it to the bottom of the pile. I am so glad that it worked its way to the top! A unique setting, real characters, this story is completely devoid of cliche.

WORD-SMITH - n. (1896): a person who works with words esp: a skillful writer

According to the above definition in "Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary", debut novelist, Emily Arsenault, is an exciting new word-smith indeed. I sensed Ms. Arsenault's deep affection for the etymology of words as her main characters, Billy Webb and his co-worker, Mona Minot discover and try to solve a murder mystery hidden randomly among the citation files of their employer, the fictional dictionary publisher, Samuelson. What reader hasn't wondered how all of those words have gotten into our dictionary, where did they first come from and how did they evolve? The author enlightens us to the process while she skillfully evolves her characters in the same articulate and painstaking manner as her word entries in her fictional dictionary. I found myself becoming very fond of some of the characters and invested in finding out What does motivate them?, What will happen to them? and Will the murder mystery be solved? Emily Arsenault teases us along while answering all of the questions above; all the while illuminating her own sardonic wit, lexicography knowledge and skilled observations of some of the quirkiest of human behaviors. I highly recommend this novel and look forward to her next with great anticipation.

If you have ever wanted to know what lexicographers (writers, editors, and compilers of dictionaries) do, The Broken Teaglass: A Novel takes you inside the library-like lair of the Samuelson Company alongside new hire Billy Webb, a recent college grad who majored in philosophy. On his first day he is assigned to read the front matter of the Samuelson dictionary. Soon after he graduates to perusing magazines for new or unusual word usage. Within months he is allowed to, under supervision, review existing definitions and propose new ones. And, in time, he is asked to field questions from the public. He and the other editors assiduously (a bit like bees expanding the honey comb) add to the huge collection of accumulated word usage citations and counter-operationally pillage the drawers when researching word history or evolution. The office is generally hushed and the work done mainly in solititude, but Billy does get to know some of his colleagues. One in particular, Mona Minot, becomes an investigative partner (and perhaps more?) when she points out an odd citation that seems to be from a 1985 novel called THE BROKEN TEAGLASS, by Delores Beekmim. However, neither the book nor the author can be traced by ISBN number or other means. Billy and Mona start methodically checking "cits" for more of these TEAGLASS entries. Which editor compiled these citations? And why? Do some of the other employees know more than they let on? What about Mr. Phillips, a retired editor who spent forty years at Samuelson? Can he shed any light on the Beekmim entries, especially those that drop hints about a dead body?

In Emily Arsenault's premiere novel, she aptly follows oft-repeated advice to write what one knows. She was a lexicographer...before she moved on to teaching, library work, and Peace Corps service in South Africa (where she penned this novel). THE BROKEN TEAGLASS is a delightful, laid-back intellectual mystery. It relies on the "mild" accumulation of banalities as Billy goes about his unexceptional life working, feeding himself, visiting his parents, talking with the neighbors in unglamorous, "far cry from Manhattan," Claxton, Massachusetts. At times its placidity may stir impatience in the reader, but perseverance gradually reveals a rich core of insight into the main characters and the paradoxes and challenges of their seeimingly insular, almost monastic lives. The old adage about still waters running deep is embodied here, as Billy, his boss, Mona, and others unhurriedly give up crucial bits of themselves to each other and, even more, to the reader. One of the lexicographers at Samuelson tells Billy, " 'I've spend my life putting life's complexities into pat, formulaic little nuggets. I prefer not to do it with my own moral ambiguities.' " But solitude and its consequences aren't just the product of an office environment but of the people there and their actions. Billy begins to see how old secrets, attachments, and loyalties can shape life; and he, in tune with his philosophical bent, asks himself whether he can and should break away from or stay at Samuelson. As he encapsulates it: " 'It isn't our most courageous or most cowardly acts that matter most....It's what comes after those moments. It's what we do NEXT that defines us.' "

This is a wise, gently humorous, occasionally cheeky novel. It deftly steers into an edgy denouement that cleverly gathers together several plot strains. Perhaps best of all, it savors the value of language and yet reminds us that true communication and understanding are gained through much more than words. Warmly recommended. 4.5 stars.

This book had flashes of brilliance embedded in an uneven story. The plot follows Billy and Mona, young editors at a dictionary whose jobs include defining and updating words, fielding correspondence from wingnuts, and apparently, working in a classic cube-farm environment. They stumble upon a mystery buried in citation cards and work together to solve it.

At times I became absorbed in the story, and I found it very interesting how the pieces of the mystery fit together. However, the author seemed to be trying to juggle too many things at once. There was the mystery itself, but then there were over-arching issues for Billy and Mona that seemed to come out of nowhere, and to my thinking, did little to add to the story.

I have to say that I found the process of how words in the dictionary come into being very interesting, and the author seemed to be at her best when describing this and the funny things that happen along the way. It did strike me that the book might be of most interest to the `teen reader' category. Overall, it was a pretty good read but was too uneven for any accolades.

I believe Emily Arsenault has the potential top become a first-rate novelist. But she's not there yet.

At its core, this book contains a fabulous idea; a murder mystery that is unraveled clues planted in the citation files of a dictionary company. As other reviewers pointed out the glimpse into the life of a dictionary editorial office and the way lexicographers work is fascinating - well, maybe not to everyone, but we in the book section of Amazon are a skewed sample in that we read and, presumably, have at least some interest in words.

Unfortunately, the side plots and characterizations are mind-numbingly dull. One subplot is supposed to be pretty deep - it deals with cancer remission. But I have no clue why it's in the book. It relates to absolutely nothing else in the novel and does nothing at all to drive the story forward. Obviously, it tells us much about the character but that which we learn is irrelevant to any other aspect of the novel. Other subplots - such as child of divorce, platonic friendship with possible wannabe aspirations beyond that -likewise connect to nothing and are not especially well written.

Thankfully, the author edited out the goat metaphors that crept in while she wrote as whiled away spare hours in South Africa writing and watching goats (see author web site).

Whenever I encounter from-out-in-left-field subplots in a work by a young novelist, I tend to suspect she or he felt compelled to stick something from real life into the book come hell or high water. But from checking the author web site, that does not seem to be the case here, which makes the distractions that much more perplexing.

In any case, the side plots do appear to have dimmed her focus because as the book moved toward it's conclusion, I found the writing to have dimmed all around and that I had completely lost interest in everything, including the murder mystery - and that says something because in this genre, if there's one thing that the reader really needs to know is the resolution.

I think the author needs to take a lesson from her own handling of the goat metaphors: edit, edit, edit, and then edit some more. My guess is that there are at least three our four really good novels here, perhaps more. (I can see one or more novels focusing on the older characters, too.) She shouldn't have tired to jumble everything into a single novel. It really didn't work.

For a book that could have been the Holy Grail for wordies everywhere, Emily Arsenault's The Broken Teaglass was a let down. The setting for a brilliant mystery novel is there: an intriguing job, a saucy love interest, an unsolved murder, creepy neighbors - books greater than you and me have been built on a foundation of far less. Yet somehow with Teaglass, the whole was not greater than the sum of its parts.

The tidbits divulging the behind-the-scenes secrets of dictionaries are priceless. For word-lovers and budding linguists, the questions of "who gets to decide which words are real?" is finally answered, complete with counter-theories and the philosophy behind the process all tied up with a neat little bow: in a thoughtful piece of dialogue, characters debate whether to search for new words only in text, or to include conversation as well. Arsenault uses her characters wisely to explain some very murky ideologies.

But the rest of it, the side stories and the intrigues surrounding such a rich setting, are poorly executed. The novel, it seems, exists in two disjointed acts. Act One focuses on our protagonist Billy's neighbors who offer him conversation and a beer at the end of the day and offer the reader an unsettling feeling that maybe Billy should lock his door at night. This sentence on page 14 sets it up:

"Maybe it was a sort of omen that my first encounter with Tom was on the very first day of work... He was bald but for a few long clumps of hair growing out of the sides and back of his head, all pulled into a then ponytail at the back. His body matched his hair - stringy, skinny, and formless in his lawn chair."

Scary, right? Well, not scary for long. By the half-way point in the book, we never really hear from Tom or the rest of the neighbors again. They have dropped off the pages. The "omen" of the first meeting is never revealed.

Instead we are introduced to Billy's unfortunate struggle with cancer during his senior year of high school. Now five years later, he spends the second half of the book in the throes of an existential crisis as he begins to accept his remission with copious amounts of booze and a lackadaisical approach to dictionary editing. Arsenault makes sure the murder mystery is solved by the end of The Broken Teaglass but for this one tidy knot, there are several loose threads left dangling.

This stand alone mystery features a winning and plausible amateur sleuth. In a genre which is choked with cops and lawyers, a dictionary makers offices make a refreshing change of setting. The sleuth and his side kick are recent liberal arts graduates coming to terms with the mind numbing reality of cubicle existence, when they stumble upon an anomaly and feel compelled to follow where it leads, even when it develops into something darker. This is definitely a mystery rather than a triller, more puzzling than heart pounding, but it's a creative story told in an interesting and sympathetic manner. The author creates compelling characters, and skillfully weaves in their backstories as the central mystery unfolds. I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable read.