Why Not Catch-21?: The Stories Behind the Titles [Hardcover]

Gary Dexter (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2007

Each of its 50 chapters focuses on the origins of one of the great titles of world literature, presenting a bite-sized piece of literary history, with fascinating details of the work's genesis and composition. The emphasis is on titles that are literally inexplicable without this background knowledge. The origins of 50 great titles in world literature – fascinating bite-size pieces of literary history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Gary Dexter's gift is not only to uncover the stories behind the titles... but actually to shed light on the mysteries of literary creation. Dexter's tone is consistently, and never irritatingly, droll. There are a few books that try to be funny about literature and don't ever really get it right; Dexter always does. He has a fondness, and a gift, for the right kind of anecdote. And that is the chief joy of the book: its meticulousness in chasing down alternative histories of literature. He does not pretend to give us definitive answers where none exists, he allows us to revel in a multiplicity of suggestions, all of which are plausible; learning about them is a delightful way of undermining our certainties. Life is often rather more complicated than we imagine it to be. And as for Catch 22 - when one learns how close that came to being called something else - well, that's just spooky. --The Guardian

Review

Gary Dexter's book about the genesis of titles is a model of erudition lightly worn, offering 50 illuminating and often amusing morsels of literary history (seasoned with informed speculation.)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 238 pages
• Publisher: Frances Lincoln (October 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0711227969
• ISBN-13: 978-0711227965
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,406,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, November 15, 2007

By 

Tom (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Not Catch-21?: The Stories Behind the Titles (Hardcover)

A fascinating book, I got it for my birthday and the elderly aunt got it right for once! I ploughed through it in one go and now I'm off to re-read the novels it's reminded me about!

And, erm, the words are normal size... It's bizarre that anyone even had a problem with it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect present for book lovers, November 15, 2007

By 

Steve Blackwell (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Not Catch-21?: The Stories Behind the Titles (Hardcover)

An absolutely delightful book. Dexter has researched his material meticulously while at the same time being bold enough to draw his own conclusions. A perfect Christmas present for book lovers.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining investigations into titles for classics and popular books, July 30, 2008

By 

Henry Berry "Henry Berry" (Southport, CT) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Why Not Catch-21?: The Stories Behind the Titles (Hardcover)

One of Dexter's criterion is "the title should not be explicable by reading the text of the book itself." Thus, the meaning of or reference to the titles he explains could not be derived, divined, nor inferred by reading and comprehending the book. Among the fifty titles meeting this criterion plus three others are Gargantua and Pantagruel, The Duchess of Malfi, Sonnets from the Portuguese, The Kreutzer Sonata, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and A Clockwork Orange. The titles span all eras, as far back as Plato's Republic from 380B.C., to the 1990s. All genres are included, though titles to single poems have been eliminated. And--another of Dexter's criterion--titles cannot have be taken from quotes.

The book is entertaining for any reader and especially for ones in the book trade such as writers and publishers, instructive. Despite its catchy title and content from a newspaper (from the author's column in London's Sunday Telegram), Dexter is often discursive and analytical. The bibliography containing many scholarly or literary articles and books of literary criticism is more than six pages. He doesn't simply give the basis or source of a title, as if answering a riddle or giving a quiz-show type answer. He relates the research he did. He does so partly to authoritate how a particular title came about; and partly to support his educated guesswork on how a title came about when there is no conclusive evidence such as the book's author's explanation.

Readers will enjoy the interesting, little-known background on classics and popular books Dexter has dredged up.