THE PHONE BOOK; THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF THE BOOK THAT EVERYONE USES BUT NO ONE READS

Shea, Ammon

ISBN 10: 0399535934 / ISBN 13: 9780399535932

Published by Perigee Books, 2010

About this Item

Perigee Books, 2010. first printing. 216pp., index, bibliography. 8vo. Uncreased spine, as new unread trade paperback.

Seller Inventory # 110763

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE PHONE BOOK; THE CURIOUS HISTORY OF THE BOOK THAT EVERYONE USES BUT NO ONE READS
• Publisher: Perigee Books
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399535934
• ISBN 13: 9780399535932
• Binding: Trade paperback
• Edition: First Edition, First Printing.
• Condition: As new
• Seller catalogs:
  • BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS

About this title

Synopsis

Read Ammon Shea's blogs and other content on the Penguin Community.

A surprising, lively, and rich history of that ubiquitous doorstop that most of us take for granted.

Ammon Shea is not your typical thirtysomething book enthusiast. After reading the Oxford English Dictionary from cover to cover (and living to write about it in Reading the OED), what classic, familiar, but little-read book would he turn to next? Yes, the phone book. With his signature combination of humor, curiosity, and passion for combing the dustbins of history, Shea offers readers a guided tour into the surprising, strange, and often hilarious history of the humble phone book.

From the first printed version in 1878 (it had fifty listings and no numbers) to the phone book's role in presidential elections, Supreme Court rulings, Senate filibusters, abstract art, subversive poetry, circus sideshows, criminal investigations, mental-health diagnoses, and much more, this surprising volume reveals a rich and colorful story that has never been told-until now.

About the Author

Ammon Shea is the author of two previous books on obscure words, Depraved English and Insulting English (written with Peter Novobatzky). He read his first dictionary, Merriam Webster’s Second International, ten years ago, and followed it up with the sequel, Webster’s Third International. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.