A charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the
written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across
the parallel histories of language and typography.
Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger ( ) which
alternately illuminated and skewered heretical verses of the early
Bible or the at sign (@), which languished in obscurity for
centuries until rescued by the Internet, Keith Houston draws on
myriad sources to chart the life and times of these enigmatic
squiggles, both exotic (
) and everyday (&).
From the Library of Alexandria to the halls of Bell Labs,
figures as diverse as Charlemagne, Vladimir Nabokov, and George W.
Bush cross paths with marks as obscure as the interrobang (?) and
as divisive as the dash ( ). Ancient Roman graffiti, Venetian
trading shorthand, Cold War double agents, and Madison Avenue round
out an ever more diverse set of episodes, characters, and
artifacts.
Richly illustrated, ranging across time, typographies, and
countries, Shady Characters will delight and entertain all who
cherish the unpredictable and surprising in the writing life."
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