Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters

by Mark Dunn

Book Overview

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

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 phrase containing all the letters of the alphabet, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

Now Ella finds...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385722435
• ISBN13: 9780385722438
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

great book

heart warming short book, author has good skill

love it!

love it!

Keeps You Engaged

I loved the concept for how this was written, taking away letters from the alphabet and having to rewrite a passage to fit how you need to talk and what works in that situation keeps the reader and writer engaged and interested, anyone who is fascinated with writing or reading should pick this book up immediately.

Not for the intellectually complacent

The poor reviews of this book reflect a sad tendency: the expectation that novels should tell us exactly what they are about so that we don't have to go to the trouble of figuring it out for ourselves - or, god forbid, that a book should have layered meanings, or leave things open to interpretation. This book, however, is a finely written treatise in novel form (pun intended) about totalitarianism, repression, the effects of repression on society and what happens when complacent and fearful society doesn't fight back early and hard. A great gift for friends and family who like to think.

Vivacious and delightful

'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.

CREATIVE, IMAGINATIVE, AND ENTERTAINING

Creative? Imaginative? Entertaining? A tad absurd? You bet to all of the preceding. Playwright Mark Dunn has crafted his first novel, subtitled, "A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable." It is a fable and a fantastic one that takes place today on the fictional island of Nollop, which is a stone's throw from North Carolina. The island is named in honor of the great Nevin Nollop who some 100 years ago penned "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," the revered phrase containing every letter in the alphabet. The more erudite among us know that a verse, phrase or sentence containing all the letters of the alphabet is a "panagram." Nonetheless, the estimable Mr. Nollop is more than erudite to Nollopians; he is a hero and a statue in his honor sits in the town square. But, one day mysterious doings occur - letters of the alphabet begin to fall from the statue's inscription. First to drop is the Z. Then, oops, a Q followed by a J. And so it goes. Respected for their sagacity, the Nollop Town Council immediately rules that the dropped letters are banned in both oral discourse and written communication. Forbidden, mind you, on pain of flogging or expulsion from the island. What to do? It falls to Ella of the Minnow Pea family to discover a panagram using fewer letters in order to return the language they so love to all of Nollop. The story is told in a series of letters, all of which are written adroitly and show just how ingenious one can be when it comes to communicating with fewer letters of the alphabet. Wordsmiths will delight in this highly original tale, and all will smile wondering, "How in the world did Mark Dunn ever think of that?" - Gail Cooke

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Speak or write the letter "z", first offense-public reprimand, second offense-public flogging or the stockades, third offense-deportment from the island of Nollop. If you refuse to go, death is the punishment. "Ella Minnow Pea" is quite possibly the most original book I have ever read. Mark Dunn's first novel is highly creative, insiteful, with a touch of political undercurrents. Written in the form of letter correspondences, it is a quick and entertaining read. As letters become outlawed, they do in fact drop from the book, not making it harder to read (as was my worry) but only adding to its charm. "Ella Minnow Pea" will even give you a new appreciation for that wonderful thing we call the alphabet, as well as put a smile on your face. So, find out the fate of the alphabet and the citizens of Nollop and read this book!

Get Ella Minnow Pea, ASAP!

How about something refreshingly original, amazingly creative, wholeheartedly unique? Or maybe something containing whimsically plausible characters encasing hearty penchants for the written word and appetites for poetically stimulating language usage? Look no further! Read Ella Minnow Pea for a divine, utterly addictive, and monumentally appealing perusing experience.In the fictional island of Nollop, home to the late, great Nevin Nollop, inventor of the sentence, "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog," a pangram that contains all 26 letters of the alphabet, there's an uprising going on! Seems the monument depicting said sentence (in an effort to memorialize the citizens' esteemed island founder) is falling apart, letter by letter. High Council members determine this as a word from the great beyond, a way of communicating to us Nollop's wishes to eradicate that certain letter from use -- verbally or written. As an island full of people who use letter-writing and communication as an art form, these wishes could only spell 'demise.' If only there was a way to prove the tiles' falling as an act of faulty cement glue....Ella Minnow Pea is an extraordinary book of letters from one citizen to the next that increase in hilarity and difficulty as each letter of the alphabet is increasingly banned from use. Mark Dunn is an extremely talented writer in my eyes, especially given this amazing task to expand his vocabulary beyond normal conversation. Have your Thesauruses handy -- Ella Minnow Pea will take you on quite an intellectual journey.