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The Broken Teaglass

by Emily Arsenault (Goodreads Author)

3.32 of 5 stars 3.32 · rating details · 1,069 ratings · 338 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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Apr 13, 2010 Emily rated it 1 of 5 stars

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 work as lexi...more

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Apr 18, 2010 Jim Leffert rated it 3 of 5 stars

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 som...more

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Dec 28, 2011 May rated it 5 of 5 stars · 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 he lives a lonely existence in...more 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 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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Mar 06, 2013 LJ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: amateur_sleuth, contemporary_post_1945, female_author, journalist, massachusetts, mystery, mysterybookclub, literary

First Sentence: I lifted my head when I heard her knocking.

Billy Webb is a young man, recently graduated from college, joins a dictionary publishing company and begins work as a lexicographer on their annual update. His job is to research possible words which should be added. There he meets coworker Mona who keeps coming across slips of paper with words that seem to be bits of a story. The citation for each is a book entitled “The Broken Teaglass”, which doesn’t seem to exist, but sets the two o...more First Sentence: I lifted my head when I heard her knocking.

Billy Webb is a young man, recently graduated from college, joins a dictionary publishing company and begins work as a lexicographer on their annual update. His job is to research possible words which should be added. There he meets coworker Mona who keeps coming across slips of paper with words that seem to be bits of a story. The citation for each is a book entitled “The Broken Teaglass”, which doesn’t seem to exist, but sets the two on the hunt for the book, a possible crime and, possibly, a romance.

More of a literary novel, perhaps, than a mystery the book begins with an intriguing prologue followed by a first chapter that is a complete contrast.

Billy is young; something of which I had to keep reminding myself. He is 24 years old and seems immature at times. I do credit the author for, end the end, providing us with something of an explanation as to why he is, as he is. I did find the least appealing aspect of his character was the amount of alcohol he consumed, as well as his annoying habit of plying Mona with liquor. But again, he is young. Of the two characters, Mona was the better, stronger one. Mr. Samuelson, a retiree, was one of the best characters.

The most fascinating part of the story, for me, was learning how dictionaries are created; how words are included, updated, changed, etc. A dictionary is something on which I have always depended without every considering how or by whom. …”Oh, Billy,” she [Mona] said, opening her door,” Don’t hate words. Hate the people who misuse them.” I did appreciate that we slowly learn the quite interesting backstory on the characters.

“The Broken Teaglass” was an interesting story that kept me reading, even though I wasn’t always certain why. It was literate, funny at times, a bit slow at times, but also a bit poignant. In the end, nothing was really resolved, but isn’t that true of life. I wouldn’t define it as a “must read,” but I am very glad I read it.

THE BROKEN TEAGLASS (Mys-Billy Webb/Mona Minot-Massachusetts-Cont) – G+
Arsenault, Emily – 1st book / Standalone
Delacourt Press, 2009
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Sep 04, 2012 Chel rated it 3 of 5 stars

I can't remember how or why this book came to be on my shelf. Possibly it was on one of those racks in Barnes and Noble where you can buy 3 books for the price of 2, and I needed a filler. Anyway, I finally shoved it in my shoulder bag because it was the right size.

I was initially charmed. The action (such as it is) is set in the day to day life of a team of lexicographers ever updating the dictionary and responding to really wacky letters and phone calls from word geeks like me. The enchantment...more

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May 03, 2012 Caroline Mckiernan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Okay -- This was not my typical murder mystery. This would make a great movie I'd never want to see, but it was really well written.

I can't believe a woman wrote it. It was so gritty...such an ugly tenement Irish world in a contemporary setting.

This was not a cozy mystery, and keeping up with the biting Irish slang and Irish interpretations of horribly foul words wasn't fun.

Neither was the climate of the family that the main character escaped for 20 something years and had to face to solve this...more

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Oct 25, 2011 Mary Chrapliwy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley-books

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 the surro...more

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Oct 06, 2011 Heather Sunderland rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

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 citations and being draw...more

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Jan 09, 2011 Sarah rated it 1 of 5 stars

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 definition cha...more 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 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 5 of 5 stars

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 in trai...more

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Jul 20, 2010 Patricia Moore rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 of the main...more

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Jun 05, 2010 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 little more developed. Mona...more

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Feb 22, 2010 Ruby rated it 2 of 5 stars 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 cits that seem to refer to a crime...more

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Jan 10, 2010 Dinyah rated it 4 of 5 stars

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...more 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 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 4 of 5 stars

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 still and you nee...more

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Oct 20, 2009 Melissa Caldwell rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 book was a...more

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Oct 19, 2009 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars

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. She had a unique ability t...more 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. 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 5 of 5 stars

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 it a confession, or a simp...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Kris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: english-language-and-culture, language-and-culture, mystery

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

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Mar 22, 2010 Kristin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 unravel words that are c...more

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Aug 06, 2012 Kristen rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book sounded intriguing, especially for an admitted "word-nerd" like me. Set at a dictionary company full of lexicographers, where new employee Billy meets Mona and the two discover what appear to be clues to a mystery or crime in the citation files used to create new dictionary definitions and update existing ones.

Unfortunately, both the mystery and the characters in this book are all dull and plodding, with virtually nothing to connect you to them. I found the whole book so difficult to g...more

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Sep 10, 2011 Yvann S rated it 4 of 5 stars

"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 life of Billy, newly out of colle...more

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Jun 10, 2010 Reading Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 Billy's a...more

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Oct 19, 2009 Chris rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery, firstreads, dnf

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 what appears to be a murder mystery buried...more 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 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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Aug 11, 2012 Margaret rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Word lovers, mystery fans

Recommended to Margaret by: Linda

This first novel is guaranteed fun for word nerds everywhere. It's set in the office responsible for publishing one of America's great dictionaries; its protagonists are Billy and Mona, two young (24 & 23) lexicographers who, in the course of their work, stumble across some citations from a book called The Broken Teaglass, a book which Billy and Mona cannot locate, by an author no one heard of, published by a nonexistent publishing company. [Aside: A citation, BTW, is a sentences or group of...more

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May 01, 2012 Rebekah Scott rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

Have you ever wondered who decides what words are added to a dictionary? Billy Webb, a recent college graduate, has just landed a job as a lexicographer at the Samuelson Company, one of the oldest dictionary publishers in the country, a job that will allow him to make some of those decisions about adding words to the dictionary.

When a new word is coined, it doesn’t always get added to the dictionary. Lexicographers search for new words in magazines, books, newspapers and other materials to deter...more Have you ever wondered who decides what words are added to a dictionary? Billy Webb, a recent college graduate, has just landed a job as a lexicographer at the Samuelson Company, one of the oldest dictionary publishers in the country, a job that will allow him to make some of those decisions about adding words to the dictionary.

When a new word is coined, it doesn’t always get added to the dictionary. Lexicographers search for new words in magazines, books, newspapers and other materials to determine how widespread the usage of a word actually is. These instances of the words are copied down and put into the citation files along with the bibliographic information of where the word was found.

Part of Billy’s job requires him to respond to queries about definitions, and it is his first such assignment that brings him to examine the enormous citation files. Working with his coworker, Mona Minot, Billy pulls several citations for the word “editrix” (a female editor), finding one from a book entitled “The Broken Teaglass” that seems to be set at a dictionary publisher like Samuelson.

Intrigued by the possibility of a book about lexicographers, Billy and Mona are surprised to find that no book titled “The Broken Teaglass” has ever been published. Who would have referenced unpublished material in the citation files and why?

As Billy and Mona dig deeper into the citation files they find more and more references to this nonexistent book, and even more curious, the citations tell a story. A story that is seemingly set right there in their office with characters that closely resemble co-workers and mentions of a corpse. It seems that the explanation behind an unsolved murder from years before had been written down, broken into pieces and hidden in the citation files at Samuelson.

Determined to discover the truth behind “The Broken Teaglass”, Mona and Billy, along with Mr. Phillips, a retired Samuelson editor, work to find the rest of the citations and to piece together the mystery of what happened so long ago.

Emily Arsenault, a former lexicographer herself, tells a compelling story in “The Broken Teaglass.” Revealing just bits of the mystery at a time, Arsenault lures the reader through the narrative with skill. “The Broken Teaglass” is a unique and intriguing tale that is thoroughly enjoyable.
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Feb 26, 2012 Patty rated it 3 of 5 stars

There were parts of this book I enjoyed a lot. The inside look at how dictionaries are "made" was fascinating. The hidden story in the "cits", i.e. citation files started out fairly interesting but soon became more background noise to the lives of the four or five main characters.

Billy has just started at Samuelson Company, a company that has made dictionaries for many years. He starts out learning a lot of word entomology and how to find and define new words or new uses for old words. Mona has...more

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Dec 18, 2010 Catherine rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 satisfying non...more

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Jan 24, 2010 Ryan Mishap rated it 3 of 5 stars

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 called--wor...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Regan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook

First off, this is one of those horrendous productions that has music. Even worse, the music continues on after the narration begins and keeps going for 30 seconds! Ugh. I’m knocking off a star on this just for that destructiveness.

The overlapping music only adds to the confusion of the multiple narrators in this book. Rather than just three narration voices, they are semi-dramatized: When Billy is narrating his opening words, Mona is in the scene. So he narrates and she reads her own lines. Th...more First off, this is one of those horrendous productions that has music. Even worse, the music continues on after the narration begins and keeps going for 30 seconds! Ugh. I’m knocking off a star on this just for that destructiveness.

The overlapping music only adds to the confusion of the multiple narrators in this book. Rather than just three narration voices, they are semi-dramatized: When Billy is narrating his opening words, Mona is in the scene. So he narrates and she reads her own lines. Then it switches to another narrator reading a book excerpt. If you look at the print version (the first couple of pages are available with Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature), you understand that this refers to something Billy is looking at, but the switch of narrators makes it seem like it’s a new scene. Then back to Billy narrating and Mona reading lines. Then to Mona narrating. All of this happens within the first three minutes. Zero stars for directing and production. The individual performances weren’t that bad considering the material they had to work with.

Although the premise of the story is intriguing, the novel drags and the conversations between Mona and Billy will make you wish you were engaged in something more sophisticated, like, say, the movie Titantic. The mystery and plot are just drowned out by the focus on Mona and Billy and their flat juvenile dialogue.

I would have quit, but the whole idea of a mystery story broken into tiny bits and hidden away in citation files only to be discovered in a research treasure hunt, made me want to love this book. The idea was so fantastic that I couldn’t admit that the book was so awful. I kept reading.

It never gets better the “mystery” is obvious from early on, so although the characters are discovering it by bits and pieces, it’s very clear where it’s going. “Nowhere” would be an exaggeration, but not much of anywhere isn’t. This is classed as a mystery by some, but the whole outcome is so obviously from the beginning that I wouldn't think of it that way. There should be a lot more going on with the characters, but certain things are emphasized that don't really make sense, the characterization doesn't really motivate the action, and did I mention how flat and juvenile the whole thing is?

Skip it. You’ve got better things to read.(less)

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About Emily Arsenault

I haven’t had a terribly interesting life, so I won’t share too many details. But the highlights include:

• When I was a preschooler and a kindergartner, I had a lazy eye and I was Connecticut’s “Miss Prevent Blindness,” appearing on pamphlets and television urging parents to get their kids’ eyes checked. I wore an eye patch and clutched a blonde doll wearing a similar patch. I imagine it was all r...more

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“Self-defense is an act that implies you have something valuable to defend. After the instinct, you begin to wonder. What, specifically, was I aiming to save? What, beyond instinct, makes life worth saving?” — 8 people liked it

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