All were speakers of banned words—words overheard upon the lanes, in schoolyards and church pews, and on the common greens. Discuss the significance of the novel’s two epigrams: In the beginning was the Word and The wicked peon quivered, then gazed balefully at the judges who examined him. Almost everybody in Nollop seems to be unhappy with the council’s edicts, yet no one is able to effectively resist them. The extremely harsh restrictions on vocabulary are loosened, and people no longer have to strain for substitute words, but that doesn't stop the crumbling of Nollopian society. A mostly lighthearted tweaking of literary sensibilities, playwright Dunn’s first novel gets good mileage from a simple notion: People can carry hero worship way too far.

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn Editions of Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

These become increasingly evident as more tiles tumble and more letters are taken out of circulation. What is Dunn suggesting here about the ways in which human societies venerate and mythologize sacred texts and heroic ancestors? It might have gone without report except that Morton who owes him money chose to employ outright extortion against poor, hapless Amos. The sentence contains each of the 26 letters of the alphabet and totals 32 letters in all: “Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.Imagine the effrontery: Morton attempting to ignore the offense in exchange for clearance of a rather large financial obligation. The story itself is farcical but told well, the use of letters as the narrative device largely keeps the pace up. How does his offense differ from those of the other characters’ and what does it say about the metastasis of the Nollopian cult?

Review: Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn - The Edge Review: Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn - The Edge

He has been the recipient of several national awards, including the 1997 Nesburn Prize and the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild/July Harris Playwriting Award. Why does Ella maintain that the loss of the letter ‘D’ robs islanders “of great chunks of our very history?

Meanwhile, Ella’s mother, Gwenette, gains two offenses for using the word “diminished” in a letter to Mittie, as the Council reveals that they are now checking letters for illegal words. Given the titular protagonist's Punny Name, it's not hard to foresee the arrival of a chapter headed by ***LMNOP***. Later played straight when the Council decrees that approgsimate spelling is phine to yoose, tho only in writing. Ella decides to cautiously obey the decrees for the time being, but Tassie is outraged in Ella’s response, pointing out that already books are being banned from the library.