The Monstrosity Gazette: A weekly smattering of all things literary...

Bookish Quote of the Day:

"I read part of it all the way through."

-Samuel Goldwyn

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Today in Literary History...

On this day in 1775 Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Rivals premiered. Sheridan was just twenty-three years old, this was his first play, and his Mrs. Malaprop may have borrowed from Henry Fielding's Mrs. Slipslop, but the stage and the language got one of its most enjoyable and enduring creations -- not to mention "a nice derangement of epitaphs."

For more, please visit Today in Literature.

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Literary Pic of the Day:

© 2009 by Katie S. Atkinson and by Owl Square Press

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Book on my Radar:

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths (Pub. Jan 5, 2010)

When she's not digging up bones or other ancient objects, quirky, tart-tongued archaeologist Ruth Galloway lives happily alone in Norfolk. But when a child's bones are found on a desolate beach nearby, and Detective Chief Inspector Harry Nelson calls Galloway for help, Ruth finds herself in completely new territory - and in serious danger.

Read the Reviews:

• A Lovely Shore Breeze
• Back to Books 
• A Bookworm's World
  

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Unfinished book this week:

I was reading this book for the Bibliophilic Books Challenge and was most excited about its premise. I'm deeply disappointed that I wasn't able to continue past about 75 pages due to the complete denseness of the writing style. I didn't realize until I began reading that Petroski is an engineer and approaches writing about the history of books and bookshelves from a very dry and factual point of view, almost in the manner of a textbook. I did enjoy the photos and illustrations included in the book, but could not fall into the rhythm of the writing and was forced to put it aside.