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The Broken Teaglass

by Emily Arsenault (Goodreads Author)

3.31 · rating details · 726 ratings · 266 reviews

The dusty files of a venerable dictionary publisher . . . a hidden cache of coded clues . . . a story written by a phantom author . . . an unsolved murder in a gritty urban park–all collide memorably in Emily Arsenault’s magnificent debut, at once a teasing literary puzzle, an ingenious suspense novel, and an exploration of definitions: of words, of who we are, and of the ...more

Hardcover, 384 pages

Published September 29th 2009 by Delacorte Press (first published September 21st 2009)

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Community Reviews

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Apr 13, 2010

Emily rated it

Ok, but not great. Mostly, I didn't like the voice of the main male character. It's one of the most commonly made mistakes in writing from the viewpoint of the opposite sex and in this case it was really obvious. If the author had made the main character female instead of trying to force a false male voice out of the narrative, maybe it would have given her a few extra points over all.

The book itself--eh. The plot sounds intriguing enough, two people find a hidden story among their ...more

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Apr 18, 2010

Jim Leffert rated it

Here’s a mystery story by a first-time author that adds a new twist to the genre—a mystery that unfolds at a dictionary publishing company. (With its deep delving into the quotidian workings of lexicography, it was a little reminiscent of a story that I imagined as a teenager: Murder at the Cereal Factory, by Agatha Krispie.) The book plods on for a while at a slow pace, but eventually it gathers force and reaches a satisfying conclusion, in which the resolution is revealing of character and so...more

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Dec 28, 2011

AgnesPink rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: ya-mystery

Emily Arsenault’s debut book was dreamy, dark and dreary. Just like In Search of Rose Notes, which I have read, loved and reviewed here on my blog
I love the 3 D’s and I immensely enjoyed this book.
As emotionally satisfying as In search of rose notes, this book had a bonus delight.
It centred on words.
The mystery, the plot and the setting were all about words.
Set in Samuelson Company, a dictionary publisher’s office, the book follows College graduate Billy Webb as h...moreEmily Arsenault’s debut book was dreamy, dark and dreary. Just like In Search of Rose Notes, which I have read, loved and reviewed here on my blog
I love the 3 D’s and I immensely enjoyed this book.
As emotionally satisfying as In search of rose notes, this book had a bonus delight.
It centred on words.
The mystery, the plot and the setting were all about words.
Set in Samuelson Company, a dictionary publisher’s office, the book follows College graduate Billy Webb as he lives a lonely existence in the cubicle till his colleague colleague Mona Minot stumbles upon citation from a novel called The Broken Teaglass. Each cit seems to tell a story that may reveal a past secret, buried deep in the grim office.
I haven’t read many books with male protagonists but Billy was cool. Highest form of praise I can give a dude.
With oddball characters and a plot brimming with suspense The Broken Teaglass is a literary puzzle and a coming-of-age novel with a dark and subtle sense of humour.
P.S - Another reason I totally love this book with every fibre of my being is that it introduced me to LEXICOGRAPHY!
I am 19 and totally clueless plus aimless about life and career and crap, but every once in a while I come across super-fun sounding jobs.
For example, right now I want to be a writer on a NBC sitcom. (And subsequently have a three-way with Amy Poehler and Will Arnett.)
30 Rock may or may not have influenced this decision.
Anyhoo, after reading The Broken Teaglass, I think it’d be SWEET if I was a lexicographer. Turns out they just have to read a bunch of magazines of their choice all the time and not really talk to people.
I think it was a job specifically designed for me.
P.P.S- Another fun part of this book was all these random people calling the office and sending them letters etc with completely random and hilarious inquiries. That shit was gold.
P.P.P.S- Some might find pacing problems with this because the plot kind of moves along really slow. I savoured every bit but just wanted to put this out there.
Want to read the entire review.- http://oopsireadthatbook.blogspot.com/2011/12/broken-teaglass-by-emily-arsenault.html (less)

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Oct 25, 2011

Mary Chrapliwy rated it

This is a literary novel about a young college graduate who begins to work at a dictionary company and makes friends with a female coworker that he imagines he could have more of a relationship with. The story and the friendship comes to life thanks to finding citations from a non-existent book that slowly weave an amazing tale.

Arsenault creates characters in her story that feel real. She tells us the story from first person point of view, richly expanding characterization of Billy and...more

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Oct 06, 2011

Heather Sunderland rated it

The Broken Teaglass is a beautifully written and quirky mystery by Emily Arsenault

In the stifling boredom of a dictionary publishing house, Billy and Mona find snippets of what appears to be either a confession, evidence of a crime or a work of fiction dotted through the otherwise dry citation files – small snippets of text which put the words into context in sentences.

With little else to entertain themselves they begin unearthing and piecing together the Broken Teaglass cita...more

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Jan 09, 2011

Sarah rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My expectations for this book were clearly far too high. I don't remember what review prompted me to buy it, but the combination of lexicography and mystery with a positive review seemed like a winner. There's a blurb on the back that should have set off alarm bells right away: "Charming and witty are not the usual adjectives used to describe a mystery novel". Maybe if you mostly read from the gritty end of the mystery genre, but I would say that my favourite mystery novels are by defi...moreMy expectations for this book were clearly far too high. I don't remember what review prompted me to buy it, but the combination of lexicography and mystery with a positive review seemed like a winner. There's a blurb on the back that should have set off alarm bells right away: "Charming and witty are not the usual adjectives used to describe a mystery novel". Maybe if you mostly read from the gritty end of the mystery genre, but I would say that my favourite mystery novels are by definition charming and witty. Even if the ignorance of the blurber might be forgiven if the novel was in fact charming and witty, I should have been suspicious that they didn't manage to get blurbed by someone who knew anything about charming and witty mystery novels.

The narrator, Billy, is pretty bland. There are a lot of characters who are mentioned and never develop into anything. There are a few characters who are slightly developed but in the end there is no reason to be interested in them or care about them -- which is very fortunate, because there is basically no growth or resolution to any aspect of their lives. The resolution of the "mystery" of The Broken Teaglass is dull. When Billy's coworker Mona brings The Broken Teaglass to Billy's attention, it seemed like it could be interesting and clever, and I spent far too much time trying to come up with anagrams of teaglass that could lead somewhere. The characters in the book didn't even mention the idea of looking up the entry for teaglass in the dictionary until halfway through the book and even then it turned out that Mona had thought about it and done it long before mentioning it to Billy and it had led nowhere. Anagrams were never even discussed. Billy's neighbour and the neighbour's never-seen wife were irrelevant. The Korean War was apparently irrelevant, unless I was supposed to infer that Red was actually Mary Anne's biological father. Billy's recovery from Hodgkin's disease could possibly have been interesting if it hadn't been treated obscurely until 2/3 of the way through the book. Nobody appeared to love words or have any interesting thoughts about lexicography.(less)

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Jul 29, 2010

Noni rated it

An off beat mystery that will keep one glued to the end. The author presents the reader with a real gem. This isn't your typical whodunit where one can often determine the guilty party long before the author intended. Set in a small New England town, Billy (the recent college grad who majored in philosophy) considers himself fortunate to land a position with the Samuelson Dictionary Company. Readers are given an insight into the world of the lexigrapher as Billy spends his beginning time i...more

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Jul 20, 2010

Patricia Moore rated it

I loved this book from debut author, Emily Arsenault. Ms. Arsenault is indeed a "word-smith" as are her main characters, Billy Ward and Mona Minot who are trying to solve the intriguing mystery they have discovered among the thousands of citations at Samuelson Dictionary, their employer. It appears that a murder has taken place and someone has intentionally left behind puzzle pieces in the form of random dictionary citations but just as compelling are the clues into the very make-up ...more

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Jun 05, 2010

Steve rated it

I liked this book much more than I expected to. The premise is intriguing, and reminds me a little of Possession by A. S. Byatt back in the nineties. For me, the book's strength was that it never went over the top and kept a fairly steady pace. Arsenault took her time getting into the story and the conflict instead of beginning with a big blast like so many recent books are compelled to do.

The prose was solid and the humor never got broad.

I wish the characters were a l...more

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Feb 22, 2010

Ruby rated it

Recommends it for: any "word person"

Recommended to Ruby by: book review section

An intriguing story for any "word person" as the narrator, fresh from getting a philosophy degree, gets a job in a dictionary publishing house. His job is to look for unusual words or usage of words and write up the "citations" for the editors to consider for the next edition. Currently of course the "cits" are on the computer, but there are voluminous paper files of all the pre-computer cits. He and coworker Mona discover in the old files, a series of cryptic ci...more

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Jan 10, 2010

Dinyah rated it

Tahukah Anda bahwa ada sebuah profesi bernama Lexicographer? Jika tidak, berarti Anda sama dengan saya dan semoga Tuhan mengampuni kekhilafan kita ini. Memang rasanya profesi ini tidak popular dan kedengarannya cenderung mengada-ada. Apalagi kita tinggal di sebuah negeri seperti Indonesia, negeri yang sejarah modernnya tidak mendorong rakyatnya mengakrabi bentuk-bentuk dokumentasi tertulis, apalagi kamus. Leksikografer adalah penyusun kamus, orang yang berkutat mencari definisi kata. Kata-kata y...moreTahukah Anda bahwa ada sebuah profesi bernama Lexicographer? Jika tidak, berarti Anda sama dengan saya dan semoga Tuhan mengampuni kekhilafan kita ini. Memang rasanya profesi ini tidak popular dan kedengarannya cenderung mengada-ada. Apalagi kita tinggal di sebuah negeri seperti Indonesia, negeri yang sejarah modernnya tidak mendorong rakyatnya mengakrabi bentuk-bentuk dokumentasi tertulis, apalagi kamus. Leksikografer adalah penyusun kamus, orang yang berkutat mencari definisi kata. Kata-kata yang menyusun dunia kita, yang membentuk kesadaran dan pemahaman kita, yang menjadi awal penilaian kita tentang apa yang benar dan apa yang salah. Jika Anda tidak mengerti fungsi kata apalagi mencintai kata, saya tidak heran kalau Anda tidak melihat pentingnya profesi Leksikografer ini. Tapi jika sebaliknya, Anda percaya bahwa kata adalah kehidupan – seperti saya – maka, saya yakin setidaknya Anda akan tergerak untuk coba membaca buku The Broken Teaglass karya perdana Emily Arsenault.

Protagonis The Broken Teaglass adalah seorang leksikografer muda bernama Billy. Sebenarnya Billy adalah lulusan fakultas filsafat. Entah kenapa, dia diterima bekerja di Penerbit Samuelson, penerbit yang mengkhususkan pada penerbitan kamus. Billy yang sama sekali tidak memiliki latar belakang linguistic mengawali hari-harinya di Samuelson dengan berlatih mendefinisikan kata dibawah bimbingan salah satu editor senior Samuelson, yang rupanya juga menjadi penentu diterimanya Billy bekerja di penerbit itu. Ternyata latihan mendefinisikan kata ini menjadi awal keterlibatan Billy dalam penyingkapan sebuah cerita berlatar belakang kematian seorang lelaki yang terjadi di tahun 80an di Claxton, kota tempat Samuelson berdiri. Bersama Mona, juga salah satu editor muda di Samuelson, Billy jungkir balik menekuni apa yang disebut di Samuelson sebagai “Cit Files”, koleksi suci berisi ribuan kutipan tentang kata apa saja yang bisa didapat dari majalah atau koran sebagai dasar bagi para editor untuk mendefinisikan kata tersebut. The Broken Teaglass yang dipakai Emily Arsenaut sebagai judul ternyata adalah sebuah buku fiktif yang terkait dengan kasus kematian misterius itu, yang ternyata juga melibatkan beberapa orang di Samuelson.

Misteri pembunuhan dan buku fiktif yang seolah menjadi kunci untuk mengungkap siapa pembunuh si korban adalah motif yang membangun ketegangan dalam The Broken Teaglass. Namun, yang membuat motif ini menjadi sangat menarik dan membuat The Broken Teaglass berbeda dari buku-buku misteri adalah cara penyampaiannya yang mengambil latar belakang dunia penerbitan kamus. Sambil menelusuri kasus pembunuhan itu pembaca buku ini dapat melihat bagaimana sebuah kamus bisa sampai ke tangan pembaca, lebih tepatnya bagaimana seorang leksikografer bekerja. Saya misalnya, sangat menikmati bagian-bagian yang menjabarkan bagaimana Billy dan Mona bekerja, bagaimana mereka dilatih untuk mendefinisikan kata, bagaimana mereka sebagai editor pemula harus melalui tahap membalas surat konsumen dan saya pun terkikik-kikik membaca bagian yang menggambarkan bagaimana seorang editor melayani pembaca yang menelepon langsung ke Samuelson sehubungan dengan pertanyaan, keberatan, atau gugatan atas definisi sebuah kata yang ada dalam kamus terbitan Samuelson.

Meskipun demikian buan berarti buku ini menggambarkan bagaimana tokoh-tokohnya bicara dan menulis dalam kata-kata bahasa Inggris yang keningrat-ningratan yang membuat kita sebagai pembaca harus duduk di samping kamus ketika membaca. Sebaliknya, tokoh Mona dan Billy, sebagaimana orang yang masih termasuk muda, banyak menggunakan bahasa slengean yang sangat kontras dengan pekerjaan mereka di Samuelson. Selain itu, Billy dan Mona pun ditampilkan sebagai tokoh-tokoh dengan kerapuhan mereka masing-masing, terkait dengan masa lalu mereka. Hubungan di antara keduanya tidak menjadi sesuatu yang banal semacam cinta lokasi, mereka bahkan tidak secara eksplisit dinyatakan sebagai kekasih sampai buku ini berakhir.

Sebuah kamus – dalam bahasa apapun – tidak sanggup memuat semua kata yang pernah dipaki manusia sepanjang sejarah dunia. Setiap kata butuh waktu untuk membuktikan eksistensinya sampai kemudian dia bisa menjadi satu entri di salam sebuah kamus. Manusialah, tepatnya pengguna bahasa itu sendirilah, yang menentukan kemenangan atau kekalahan sebuah kata. Kamus hanyalah media dokumentasi dan para leksikografer hanya bertugas mencari definisi kata. Bahasa dan kata pada akhirnya adalah tanggung jawab sebuah bangsa atau kelompok yang menggunakannya. Saya rasa nilai-nilai ini tersurat dan tersirat dalam karya Emily Arsenault The Broken Teaglass dan sangat relevan dengan situasi kebudayaan bangsa-bangsa dunia saat ini, termasuk Indonesia. Di masa sekarang ini ketika bahasa diabaikan dan disingkat dengan semena-mena, pemahaman manusia akan dunia sekitarnya pun sering kali seadanya, terputus-putus, tidak koheren dan akhirnya membunuh bahasa itu sendiri. Pertanyaan untuk kita sekarang: Maukah kita hidup sambil mencintai dan menghormati kamus?

Tentang penulis: Emily Arsenault pernah bekerja sebagai leksikografer, guru bahasa Inggris, pustakawan di sebuah perpustakaan anak dan sukarelawan Peace Corps. The Broken Teaglass adalah debutnya yang ditulis ketika dia tinggal di Afrika Selatan. Arsenault saat ini tinggal bersama suaminya di Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.
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Jan 03, 2010

Andrea rated it

I think I may be giving a higher rating than it deserves, but I really really enjoyed reading this book. Arsenault's novel deals with the life of a lexicographer and how he tries to solve a "mystery" that really isn't a mystery in order to make his life bearable and less lonely. I know this sounds a bit off putting, but, for whatever reason, this book touched me a on personal level.
I think everyone (literally everyone) goes through a point in their lives where there is a stand s...more

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Oct 20, 2009

Melissa Caldwell rated it

I really wasn't sure what I was going to find inside this book. The concept is intriguing in a unique kind of way. I mean how could a book about dictionaries be interesting? The story is described as a mystery. A mystery told through definitions, or at least the citations that the lexicographers write their definitions on and file them away. It's a puzzle...with a murder..maybe. It starts off as kind of a joke, at least to Billy but turns into a murder mystery that spans decades!

This...more

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Oct 19, 2009

Cheryl rated it

Young Billy Webb has just started a new job. He will be working as a editorial assistant for Samuelson Company. He quickly becomes friends with one of his co-workers, Mona Minot. It helps to make a friend for such a boring job or not so boring job as Billy and Mona soon discover.

One day Mona discovers the word “Editrix”. It is used in the following example:

Mrs. Hopkins was one of the only editrixes at the journal, but she was one of the most valuable members on staff. Sh...moreYoung Billy Webb has just started a new job. He will be working as a editorial assistant for Samuelson Company. He quickly becomes friends with one of his co-workers, Mona Minot. It helps to make a friend for such a boring job or not so boring job as Billy and Mona soon discover.

One day Mona discovers the word “Editrix”. It is used in the following example:

Mrs. Hopkins was one of the only editrixes at the journal, but she was one of the most valuable members on staff. She had a unique ability to spot and foster young writing talent. Male colleagues patronizingly referred to her style as “the motherly touch”.

At the bottom of this example was the following reference:

Dolores Beekmim
The Broken Teaglass
Robinson Press
14 October 1983
5

The above information was referring to where the editor got the word “Editrix” from. The problem was that neither Billy nor Mona could locate an author by the name of Dolores Beekmim of The Broken Teaglass. In addition that Robinson Press did not exist as well. This wasn’t the only passage that Billy or Mona found that was taken from this ghost novel. As Billy and Mona investigate they uncover that somehow these passages are relate in connection with a murder.

I liked that author, Emily Arsenault incorporated her experiences working in the editorial department at Merriam-Webster dictionary company into her debut novel. One thing I really found interesting about this book was the profession that Billy held as a lexicographer. I knew nothing about what a lexicographer was and had to do research on the topic. There are two different types of lexicographers…there is practical lexicography, these are the people who compile all the words and meaning to write and edit the dictionaries. Then you have theoretical lexicography. These are the people who really do all the work. They have to research the origins of the word and the vocabulary language. Both of these lexicography’s were featured in this book. Mrs. Arsenault really knew her stuff. I appreciated this fact.

Though I wasn’t fully invested in Billy and Mona, the intrigue was enough to keep my interesting till the end. Mrs. Arsenault gave me a new refreshing twist on a murder mystery. I liked that hidden within the explanation of vocabulary words in the dictionary laid …deceit, deception and devotion.
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Aug 17, 2009

Eric Kaye rated it

I usually read sci/fi and fantasy with a smattering of classic mystery and the occasional modern novel if highly recommended. This one isn't out yet but was passed along by a friend in publishing.

I was delighted by the book. The writing is funny, smart, literate, and respectful of the reader.

Briefly, the novel is set at a dictionary publishing house where the young main characters, Billy and Mona, stumble upon what seems to be a mystery, or evidence of a crime, or is ...more

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Mar 22, 2010

Kristin rated it

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Shelves: 2010

I always get a kick out of books that are written in non-traditional formats, such as those written in letter form like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society or Ella Minnow Pea where letters vanish from use as the novel progresses. Emily Arsenault's The Broken Teaglass employs a non-traditional format as well.

The story takes place in the offices of a dictionary company. Billy is sucked in to a mystery discovered by fellow lexicographer, Mona. Together the two unr...more

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Sep 10, 2011

Yvann S rated it

"How does a clod like me end up in training to be a lexicographer?"

Billy has landed a job at Samuelson Dictionary Company, researching new words, defining a few for the annual Supplement, and answering letters and phone calls that come in from inquiring patrons. He stumbles upon a mystery in the reference files, and slowly, with help from the petite lexicographical prodigy Mona Minot, puts it together.

There are two very distinct elements to this book. One is the lif...more

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Jun 10, 2010

Reading Sarah rated it

Shelves: cozy-mystery

Billy Webb has just taken a position at the largest dictionary company in the US. Unfortunately the company is in the armpit of Massachusetts, but Billy is gung-ho about his first job out of college. The job is about as exciting as one might expect. His first day of training consists of reading all of the "front matter" of the dictionary. His coworkers field phone calls about Scrabble fights, and none of them talks to any other lexicographer much, until Mona talks to him. Mona is about...more

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Oct 19, 2009

Chris rated it

Shelves: mystery, firstreads

I feel like a complete heel. I won this book though a Goodreads giveaway. A two paragraph review in this weekend's New York Times Book Review liked this book. All the reviews here seem positive.

I couldn't finish it.

To be fair, I don't think it is Arsenault's fault. In fact, I would be willing to give her next book a try. I think it comes down to bad editing.

The premise behind the book is interesting. Two workers at a dictionary publishing house discover ...moreI feel like a complete heel. I won this book though a Goodreads giveaway. A two paragraph review in this weekend's New York Times Book Review liked this book. All the reviews here seem positive.

I couldn't finish it.

To be fair, I don't think it is Arsenault's fault. In fact, I would be willing to give her next book a try. I think it comes down to bad editing.

The premise behind the book is interesting. Two workers at a dictionary publishing house discover what appears to be a murder mystery buried in word citations. There is use of word play and literary clues. I can see why this got published. It is an attempt to get some of the market share that picked up The Thirteenth Tale or The Shadow of the Wind. The problem, and for me it was a huge, insurmountable problem, was the pacing and the repeatition.

The murder mystery first comes to light in what are called "cits", notes of quotes of how a word is used. Mona and Billy, the two central characters, notice that some cits refer to The Broken Teaglass and seem to give page numbers. Strangely this book doesn't seem to exist. The two want to figure out what the deal is, as it were. To do so, they find more cits from the Broken Teaglass and organize the cits in numerical order. This means the reader of Arsenault's own book is subjected to reading the same cit 1-3 times and then hearing the characters talk about for an additional 2-4 pages. It's true, I suppose, that attention spans are shorter today, but that short? It wouldn't be so bad if the reader was re-reading the cit after say 100 pages. But that's not the case.

The pacing itself is off. At times the book really, really drags. I skimmed the last 50 pages I read. The characters during these times are very flat. Just because I know about Billy's family, his love for jokes, and the fact he can cook, doesn't mean it makes him a character. In many ways, Billy's father who had shorter screen time seemed more of a person than his son, the central character of the book. This problem is also true of Mona.

The reason why I think this problem is due to a lack of editing and not Arsenault herself, is that there are beautiful passages in the book. Arsenault seems to shine when the characters actually, really, truly talk. There will be a few pages of absolutely wonderful conversation, and then BANG! the book drags. Billy and Mona become flat. It almost feels bipolar. Maybe its intentional to show a quarterlife crisis. If so, it's doesn't work. This problem is something a good editor should have caught and fixed.

So, sadly I didn't like this book. I will, however, give Arsenault's next book a try. The dialogue was really that good.

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Dec 18, 2010

Catherine rated it

This is a quiet little book that grew on me. The protagonist is very lovable. He reminded me so much of Ian from Ann Tyler's "Saint Maybe." Both are friendly, gentle men trying to find their way in life. As a murder mystery, this book far exceeds many in its genre. It probes into a mystery far greater than that of an unknown murder. And that is the mystery of what do we want from life, how do we find our way. It twines quite beautifully in and out of the plot and comes to a deeply sati...more

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Jan 24, 2010

Ryan Mishap rated it

Shelves: novel, mystery-crime

Billy, fresh out of college with his philosophy degree, gets a job at the oldest dictionary company in the country. No one trains to be a lexicographer, of course, but at least he is making his own way in the world. Billy has despair and ennui riding him, but we don't find out why until later.

Along with the petite and excitable Mona, Billy uncovers citations in the archives that refer to a book they can't find anywhere. It soon becomes clear that the author of these cits--as they are...more

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Mar 14, 2010

Laura rated it

Shelves: mystery

Billy Webb is starting his first "real" job as an editorial assistant for The Samuelson Company, publishers of an English dictionary. At work his days are filled with answering letters from members of the public and researching unusual or new words and documenting their usage. At home, he struggles to find meaning in his life and to keep himself occupied. The discovery of some unusual citations in the company's old files leads him to join with a co-worker in attempting to solve a myste...more

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Oct 10, 2011

Suzanne rated it

Shelves: mysteries

Initially, I thought I was going to be raving about this work, but by the time I finished it, my enthusiasm had waned. The setting is certainly unusual, and that is probably what held my attention in the beginning. I could not help but compare lexicographers and the lexicographical process and setting with librarians and libraries. However, the story-within-a-story detective plot was clearly influenced (not to say inspired) by "Possession," and ultimately, it just felt derivative. The ...more

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Mar 17, 2010

Marlyn rated it

Shelves: mystery

There's been a lot of discussion about whether or not this book is a mystery. I don't think it really matters how it's classified, but readers looking for a traditionally constructed mystery novel won't find it here.

What they will find is an extremely well-written story about a young man named Billy Webb, recently graduated from university with a degree in philosophy, who takes a position as an editorial assistant at a dictionary publishing house.

One of his tasks is to re...more

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Jan 19, 2010

Connie Kuntz rated it

Recommends it for: Readers, Writers, People Who Notice

Recommended to Connie by: My Mama

Mona and Billy aren't really friends but they aren't exactly boyfriend/girlfriend, either. They are intellectual coworkers who spend their free time with each other piecing together an unlikely mysterious cold case with dated lexicography citations. Their time spent together isn't romantic or hilarious or rowdy, but is instead peaceful and provocative and intelligent and amusing.

Emily Arsenault brilliantly wrote Billy and Mona as young twenty-somethings who are thoroughly lovely. I ...more

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Jan 12, 2010

Doug Beatty rated it

This was a marvelous little book that contains a mystery, one that was suggested to me by a friend. It is the story of Billy Webb who graduates college only to move to Massachusetts and get a job working for one of the most revered publishers known for putting together dictionaries. He meets a fellow kindred spirit in Mona and knuckles down to work, and the reader learns what it takes to put together this giant book of knowledge. One thing that is needed is that the the employees must read...more

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Oct 21, 2009

Karen rated it

Shelves: first-reads

This is a fun little book. Part mystery, part puzzle. Clever (but not too clever for its own good, a direction it could have easily gone)and witty. I laughed out loud a few times (not something I'm prone to do while reading). Definitely recommended for a light read.

I wonder, did I win this book because I recently read the book about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary? Having recently read that book made this book all the more fun (especially because that other book was dry...more

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Feb 06, 2012

Agatha rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 16, 2011

Vivian rated it

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It's difficult to imagine that work at a dictionary company and word definitions and citations could be mysterious. But these are the elements that Emily Arsenault quite artfully combines in THE BROKEN TEAGLASS.

Billy Webb is a new hire at Samuelson Company, an esteemed dictionary publisher in New England. Billy recently graduated from college and is now working as an editor. Parts of his responsibilities include obtaining new citations or "cits" for word usage, as well as che...more

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Oct 26, 2009

Angie rated it

Shelves: first-reads, 2009

There will be spoilers here, but I will mark them with a warning.

This is a pretty good debut novel. It'd make a great gift for lovers of words, although the whole "mystery" thing in it felt a little lacking. It'd also make a great gift for a recent college grad, since that is the age of the two main characters.

In that sense, while I felt like I could relate to the characters, I also felt the characters weren't realistic enough, although I did like Mona's charact...more

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