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Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters (Paperback)

by Mark Dunn (Author)
Key Phrases: dozen liquor jugs, Love Tassie, High Council, Friday September (more...)

4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (80 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review
“There’s the whiff of a classic about Ella Minnow Pea.” —The Christian Science Monitor

“A love letter to alphabetarians and logomaniacs everywhere.” --Myla Goldberg

“A curiously compelling . . . satire of human foibles, and a light-stepping commentary on censorship and totalitarianism.” --The Philadelphia Inquirer

“This exceptional, zany book will quickly make you laugh.” --Dallas Morning Herald

Product Description
Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal pangram,* “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island’s Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl’s fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere.

*pangram: a sentence or phrase that includes all the letters of the alphabet

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Product Details

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Anchor (September 17, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385722435
ISBN-13: 978-0385722438
Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (80 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,845 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
dozen liquor jugs

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Love Tassie, High Council, Friday September, Upon the Minnow Pea, Monday September, Aunt Mittie, Tuesday August, Georgeanne Towgate, Thurby September, Mittie Purcy, Monday August, Cousin Ella, Enterprise Thirty, Montae Nophemger, Monty October, Supreme Being, Wetty September, Fribs September, Wednesday September

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Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

7 books cite this book:

Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl on page 79, and page 88
King's English, The: Adventures of an Independent Bookseller by Betsy Burton on page 53, and page 143
Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published by Jennifer Basye Sander; Sheree Bykofsky on page 15, and page 48
Naked Reading: Uncovering What Tweens Need to Become Lifelong Readers by Teri Lesesne on page 31, and Back Matter
Bibliotopia Or, Mr. Gilbar's Book of Books & Catch-all of Literary Facts And Curiosities by Steven Gilbar on page 70

See all 7 books citing this book

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	90% buy the item featured on this page: Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters 4.5 out of 5 stars (80) $10.94
	7% buy Ella Minnow Pea 4.4 out of 5 stars (57) $14.96
	1% buy The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Random House Reader's Circle) 4.5 out of 5 stars (733) $7.70
	1% buy Ella Minnow Pea: Illustrated Gift Edition $15.60

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Customer Reviews

80 Reviews

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.5 out of 5 stars (80 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vivacious and delightful, November 3, 2002

By	Gregory Baird (Morristown, NJ) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

'Ella Minnow Pea' is a delightfully diverting novel filled with wit and imagination. Its lovingly crafted structure is a real breath of fresh air -- one would be hard pressed to find another book like it out there. One must admire Mark Dunn not only for his lively imagination but for his awe-inspiring power over words. It is fun to see how he manages to continue telling his story while avoiding use of a growing number of letters in the alphabet. Never once does his prose sound forced or simple, even after he must resort to using his remaining letters to phonetically sound out his words. The plot (citizens on an island off the coast of the US rebel after their government begins restricting their use of the alphabet) could have easily been silly, cliched and like a poor man's 'Animal Farm' but instead forges out its own solid identity and endears itself to the reader through its inventiveness and wit. One can't help but enjoy 'Ella Minnow Pea'. I read it in one afternoon and my only complaint is that it had to end.

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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Actually better than 5 stars!, October 14, 2002

By	N. Gargano "nokegchris" (Waynesville NC and Bradenton, Fl) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I LOVED this book. I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked it up, and then I just couldn't put it down. I was reading passages to my husband and although he hates it when I do that, I couldn't resist. When I finished it, I went to the Amazon web page and ordered a copy for my son and my sister-in-law. I then put the book on my shelves that I have reserved for the books to read again. As a matter of fact, I have the paperback edition, I think I am going to need the hardback!
This book should be put on reading lists at high schools and colleges, it is that good. The discussions it could start, the ideas and thoughts it could open to so many people...enough, just take my word for it, this is a MUST read book.
By the way, I found that I needed a dictionary for the book and towards the end, I found it was much easier to read the letters out loud (not to my husband, just for me).Reading the letters out loud helped me understand them, so keep that in mind. What a fun, important book!

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars --An epistolary novel--, June 17, 2003

By	Judith Miller (Bluemont, VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

ELLA MINNOW PEA is the masterpiece of a very creative mind. I approached this story thinking that perhaps the book was meant mostly for English majors or those individuals who just love words. I was right and also wrong. This is a very clever story filled with interesting word play that everyone can enjoy. It's also an imaginative fable that is told in the form of letters that are written in lovely prose.

The story takes place on the fictional island of Nollop that was named after Nevin Nollop, the author of a very famous pangram sentence. Mr. Nollop is revered by the islanders and most especially by the officials who are members of the town council. On the island there's a monument to honor Mr. Nollop and beneath it the famous pangram is printed. THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG. One day the letter Z falls of the word LAZY and as time passes more letters continue to fall from the monument. The council members decide that the voice of Nevin Nollop is speaking to them from the grave and telling them to discontinue the usage of the fallen letters. Severe penalties are issued to the islanders if they use any of the forbidden letters in dialog or in print.

Most of the residents think that taking letters out of the alphabet is ridiculous, but since the penalties are harsh; they try to obey the new laws. As time passes, the people become desperate and begin to look for a way out of the miserable repression that had become their lives.

This book was very entertaining and it was also amusing to see the various words that people would come up with in their messages to one another. For instance, when many of the letters that would be used to spell chicken were forbidden, a man wrote a note to his friend thanking her for "the thermos of pullet soup" that she had sent to him.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, quick read!
I was able to breeze through this book in an afternoon, but it was one of the most delightful afternoons that I've had in a while. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Jerry Landry

2.0 out of 5 stars Contrived plot
This book may have been better as a fairytale, then the contrived plot would not have detracted from the story. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Pen Pulitzer

5.0 out of 5 stars Ella Minnow Pea
I really enjoyed it. The format makes the story move quickly because it takes a couple letters falling before you catch the great job in the writing. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Dennis Stevenson

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite book of all time!
A great, funny, clever, creative book. Ella is a girl that lives on the island of Nollop off the shoreline of the Palmetto State. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Emily Chase-Smith

2.0 out of 5 stars Nothing special
I bought this book based on the overwhelming good reviews here, which I now feel are overstated. This is a very slight book that you can read in a couple of hours, and it is OK,... Read more

Published 5 months ago by A reader

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun. A linguistic adventure!
Mark Dunn has created a fabulous book. It is incredible how well he can write under the difficult circumstances he set for himself. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Knuffel

5.0 out of 5 stars What an awesome book!
The setting of this book is in Nollop, a small island off the coast of South Carolina. The folks there idolize the man who created the sentence "The quick brown fox jumped over... Read more

Published 8 months ago by Amy Aileen Coss Ramey

3.0 out of 5 stars New spin on an old idea.
"I'll get rid of O, in upper case and lower...We'll print new books and paint new signs without the O in them." Seem familiar? Read more

Published 9 months ago by Julee Rudolf

5.0 out of 5 stars At a Loss for Words
This book manages to be charming and full of imagination allowing a play on words to tell a story of totalitarianism. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Joanna Freeman

4.0 out of 5 stars Curiously Fascinating
In Ella Minnow Pea, the creator of the sentence, "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog," is elevated to deity status by the residents of an obscure island nation. Read more

Published 11 months ago by R. Perry Hooker

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