Everything about this book is amazing. Seriously, everything. I don’t say that often, so you know it’s true.
I do have to temper that, however, by saying that this book may appeal to only a small audience of bibliophile word nerds, like me. So if that description applies to you, then by all means, read this book.
Ella Minnow Pea (say her name out loud, and you’ll get a hint of the wordy wonders to be found in this book) lives on the island of Nollop, off the East Coast. The island was founded by Nevin Nollop, the creator of “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” He’s so looked up to on the island, in fact, that they have created a monument to him and his amazing sentence. And then one day, the Z falls off. The Nollopian High Council declares that the letter Z is henceforth banned from use in speaking or writing. Since the novel is an epistolary novel, you can imagine how that affects the story. And then when you discover that Z is just the first of the letters to fall, you can look forward in delight to the language hijinks that will ensue. And let’s give Mark Dunn all the credit he’s due – this must have been a progressively difficult book to write.
Let me repeat that this book is amazing. Hopefully I’ve convinced you of that. The word geek in me was jumping up and down at each page, and surely I can’t be the only one who was affected by this book in this way.
Word lovers unite, and join Ella Minnow Pea!