Ella Minnow Pea

About Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel Without Letters

 

'...incredibly funny, incredibly charming...one of the most astonishing technical achievements I think I've ever seen in books...it's a joy...'

Natalie Haynes, A Good Read, BBC Radio 4, June 2009

 

'...it's a really rare beast...'

Kate Mosse, A Good Read, BBC Radio 4, June 2009

 

Ella Minnow Pea is a novel told through a series of letters, set on the fictional island of Nollop, home to the great Nevin Nollop, inventor of the pangram "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". The islanders have erected a monument to their hero, but one day the letter 'z' falls from the statue's inscription.

 

To the despair of the residents, the island's governing council interpret the falling tile as Nollop's message from beyond the grave and the islanders are forbidden to write or even speak it.

 

And then another letter falls, and another and another... Mark Dunn tells the fable through the correspondence of Ella Minnow Pea and her family as they race to find the only thing which can save them all from being silenced: another pangram. Somewhere between a game and a political allegory, this hugely enjoyable book is a testament to the glory of language and freedom of speech.

The Author

Mark Dunn

 

Mark Dunn is the author of over twenty-five plays performed throughout the world. He has been the recipient of several national playwriting awards and was playwright-in-residence with the New Jersey Repertory Company and the Community Theatre League in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He lives in Greenwich Village.

Reviews

 

'...incredibly funny, incredibly charming...one of the most astonishing technical achievements I think I've ever seen in books...it's a joy...'

Natalie Haynes, A Good Read, BBC Radio 4, June 2009

 

'...it's a really rare beast...'

Kate Mosse, A Good Read, BBC Radio 4

 

'An original, clever, extraordinarily inventive and quite exceptional novel... I cannot recommend this highly enough. Anyone who loves the English language must read it... a fable of stunning imaginative power'

Sarah Broadhurst, The Bookseller

 

'Ella Minnow Pea is a love letter to alphabeterians and logomaniacs everywhere'

Myla Goldberg, Author, The Bee Season

 

'Dunn's epistolary novel is sui generis, a delight for people who love language'

Time

 

'A novel bursting with creativity, neological mischief and clever manipulation of the English language'

Publishers Weekly

 

'Orwell meets Scrabble'

Dallas Morning News