Mark Dunn'Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel In Letters'

Anchor Books

Grade: A-


The Greek comedic writer, Aristophanes once said, "High thoughts must have high language." While this may seem a senesced reference, its significance is alive and well in Mark Dunn's October release, "Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel In Letters."

Whereas it is within any author's job description to have an ample vocabulary, Dunn's command of the English language is on proud display in this book. In this case, the ancient quote is circular. Language, and its overlooked but significant role in our lives, is the subject of his high thoughts as well as the vehicle for them.

The book is set on the fictional island nation of Nollop, off the coast of South Carolina, where the English-speaking natives are a highly literate lot with a "devotion to liberal arts education and scholarship, effectively elevating language to a national art form . "

The island's very peculiar name is in honor of Nevin Nollop, who penned the famously terse pangram, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." The residents so worship this man of letters that in the capital city of Nollopton stands a statue commemorating him.

The inhabitants of this island avoid technology the way some Brandeis professors do, and therefore take advantage of their articulacy communicating via the good old-fashioned, hand-written letter. Many letters in fact. Mind you this book is placed in present day Nollop, despite a certain initial semblance to the Victorian period.

The book is an epistolary novel, or in other words, the story is revealed through the frequent written discourse between residents. Our protagonists are Ella Minnow Pea and her cousin Tassie Purcy, both in their late teens, who reveal through an almost daily correspondence the events as they unfurl in Nollop.

You may be pondering what noteworthy events could happen in this seemingly paradisiacal but invented world, and further, how this could possibly merit a book, nevermind a book review. Worry not, the first pages are the last unblemished moments in Nollop.

Directly under the statue of the island nation's hero is his celebrated phrase in ceramic letters, and the letter 'z' has fallen from the phrase. While some of the residents consider this a trivial incident, the governing council decides it is Mr. Nollop communicating from the grave, and ascertains that the fallen letter was meant to be stricken from the alphabet.

Since the letter is such an easy one to avoid, few people protest, including Ella and Tassie even when excessive punishments are put in place to enforce the new decree, the third offense resulting in either banishment from the island or execution. A few denizens commit first offenses, but no one visibly objects. Then another letter falls, and another after that. With each successive absent letter, the council deleteriously edits the nation's alphabet. The girls' letters become less eloquent, residents begin to worry and some plan action. It is here that the scenario becomes intriguing.

To go any further into the story would be to spoil the pleasure of reading it, but in the end the book becomes an extremely witty metaphor for what happens when freedoms are slowly taken away, and how inconspicuous limitations can be dangerous to a nation's citizenry. We watch an idealized culture degrade into one we hope to avoid, however benign the diminutive fictional nation may seem.

Despite this very serious topic, the book is written in a light enough manner so as to allow the reader to enjoy the sometimes silly word choices or inventions Ella and Tassie use in their letters as the language deflates.

Also important to note about this novel is the genuine ease in reading it. The varied vocabulary may sound daunting, but Dunn is very skilled at using language instructively rather than obstructively. It is a highly recommended, swift, fun and thought provoking book for anyone who appreciates language.


Mark Dunn will be at Newtonville Books in Newtonville this Thursday at 7:30 p.m.