Mark Dunn · 208 pages
Rating: (23.1K votes)
“Perhaps in time, Ella, the words we have lost will fade, and we will all stop summoning them by habit, only to stamp them out like unwanted toadstools when they appear. Perhaps they will eventually disappear altogether, and the accompanying halts and stammers as well: those troublesome, maddening pauses that at present invade and punctuate through caesura all manner of discourse. Trying so desperately we all are, to be ever so careful.”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“Lately, I haph startet painting my torso in pretty, motley hews. I sit in phront oph the mirror in the sleepy-room. I atmire my hantyworg. I am a hooman apstrat paining.”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“On Wednesday, July 19, the Council, having gleaned and discerned, released its official verdict: the fall of the tile bearing the letter "Z" constitutes the terrestrial manifestation of an empyrean Nollopian desire, that desire most surely being that the letter "Z" should be utterly excised--fully extirpated--absolutively heave-ho'ed from our communal vocabulary!”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“Would you mind doing this last thing for me? Pack my box with fivedozen liquor jugs?”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“Love one another, push the perimeter of this glorious language. Lastly, please show proper courtesy; open not your neighbor's mail.”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“Hundreds of words await ostracism from our functional vocabularies: waltz and fizz and squeeze and booze and frozen pizza pie, frizzy and fuzzy and dizzy and duzzy, the visualization of emphyzeema-zapped Tarzans, wheezing and sneezing, holding glazed and anodized bazookas, seized by all the bizarrities of this zany zone we call home. Dazed or zombified citizens who recognize hazardous organizations of zealots in their hazy midst, too late - too late to size down. Immobilized we iz. Minimalized. Paralyzed. Zip Zap. ZZZZZZZZZ.
Crazy.
Crazy.
Did I say crazy?”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“U" is gone. I suppose you're aware. The 1st aeiouy to go. Up until now the other graphemes were not aeiouys. When the aeiouys start to go, Ella, writing to you turns exponentially more grueling. I will not throw in the towel, though. I trust that you won't either. I truly relish our partnership.”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“We appreciate your coming to us with a copy of your letter to your sister, but it was unnecessary. Your offense was known to us even before the letter's receipt by your sister. Effective as of September 15 the primary responsibility of our isle's new assistant chief postal inspector has been to scan all post for use of illegal letters of the alphabet, then to make nightly reports to the Council. A report has been put on file on your behalf, your official sentence to be forthwith in issuance.”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“The Council is wrong. Yet, observe that none of us will risk telling it so, for fear of the consequences.”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“Instead of the calendrical terms Monday, Tuesday and so forth, we cheerfully offer the following surrogates. Use them freely and often, for their use honors us all. For Sunday, please use Sunshine. For Monday. pleasy use Monty. For Tuesday, please use Toes. For Wednesday, please use Wetty. For Thursday, please use Thurby. For Friday, please use Fribs. For Saturday, please use Satto-gatto.”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“His countenance, dear Ellakins, is no strain upon young female eyes!”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“Today we queried, questioned, and inquired. Promise me that come tomorrow, we will not stop asking why.”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
“[Slipped beneath the minnow Pea front door]
Nollopton
Monty No-way 6
Insane woman named Ella:
Retreat is what we want. Go away. Let we alone.
Anonymess”
― Mark Dunn, quote from Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
Mark Dunn
Born place: in Memphis, TN, The United States
Born date October 22, 1956
See more on GoodReads
“Am I walking toward something I should be running away from?”
― Shirley Jackson, quote from The Haunting of Hill House
“How does one hate a country, or love one? Tibe talks about it; I lack the trick of it. I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving it a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? What is love of one's country; is it hate of one's uncountry? Then it's not a good thing. Is it simply self-love? That's a good thing, but one mustn't make a virtue of it, or a profession... Insofar as I love life, I love the hills of the Domain of Estre, but that sort of love does not have a boundary-line of hate. And beyond that, I am ignorant, I hope.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, quote from The Left Hand of Darkness
“The universe is seeming really huge right now. I need something to hold on to.”
― E. Lockhart, quote from We Were Liars
“She had no images of this love. She could offer no anecdotes. It was a belief rather than a memory.”
― Margaret Atwood, quote from Oryx and Crake
“44Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.”
― quote from The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
The Bitter Kingdom
Alexander: Child of...
Sea of Stars
How to Fall in Love
Philosophy: Who Need...
LostBookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.
Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.
