Dictionary Stories
Short Fictions and Other Findings
New York, NY : Harper Perennial, [2018]
Format: Book
Edition: First edition.
Description: xl, 208 pages ; 19 cm
"A collection of very short stories composed entirely of example sentences from various dictionaries, perfect for fans of The Lover's Dictionary and The Interrogative Mood: A Novel? " Dictionary Stories brings to literature the spirit of the musical mashup, digging in the crates to find old hooks and arrange them into new delights with an appeal that's not merely academic but truly pop. This kind of work reminds us: it's all there, love and disappointment and deep humor, latent in our language and its storehouses; but it takes a keen eye to connect the dots. Jez Burrows is keen indeed."--Robin Sloan, New York Times bestselling author of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. One day, while looking up a word in the New Oxford American Dictionary, Jez Burrows was stopped in his tracks by an example sentence: "He perched on the edge of the bed, a study in confusion and misery." It seemed like a tiny piece of fiction had gotten lost, wandered out of another book and settled down in the dictionary. With that spark, and a handful of experimental stories posted to Tumblr, Dictionary Stories was born. Genre-bending and wildly inventive, Dictionary Stories is a giddy celebration of the originality, flexibility, and beauty of narrative. Love stories, horror stories, noir mysteries, recipes, eulogies, confessions, thrillers -- each one a miniature literary remix of unlikely parts hidden in plain sight, created by flipping through the dictionary and knowing where to stop. Burrows is a master of immersive, immediate narratives. Effortlessly transcending sentence level, he lights between the profound and the absurd with a few carefully assembled sentences, transporting readers into moments, worlds, and experiences of remarkable variety. From the everyday (dating, family, jealousy, memory) to the extraordinary (the apocalypse, fantasies, murder, the occult). Organized alphabetically by theme and featuring original illustrations by the author, this continually surprising and wonderfully weird collection glows with humor, emotion, and intellect. Dictionary Stories will speak to language lovers, creative minds, and anyone who has ever appreciated the power of small things. "Jez has long been one of my favorite illustrators, and now he comes up with Dictionary Stories -- sentences stolen from dictionaries and pasted together into tiny, delightful narratives. A brilliant literary remix."--Austin Kleon, New York Times bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist"-- Provided by publisher.
Contents:
Introduction -- A note on the dictionaries. -- aggression, passive. -- John -- You have five new messages -- animals. -- Fawns -- apocalypse, the. -- The barrens -- Seven sisters -- art. -- Portrait of the artist as a stubborn old fool -- assassination. -- Hunter -- babysitting. -- Ten dollars and hour and whatever you want from the fridge -- blasphemy. -- Genesis 1 -- The Lord's Prayer, from memory -- budgeting. -- Dinah -- business. -- The cursing of Gregory Hardware -- celebrity. -- Harry Potter and the once-in-a-lifetime business opportunity in Southern California -- cookery. -- Recipe -- correspondence. -- Why I cannot attend your baby shower -- Why you are no longer invited to our baby shower -- cults. -- The last toast -- dating. -- Date night of the living dead -- Exes, an incomplete list -- death. -- Eulogy -- Worst picnic ever -- deception. -- Curtains -- Dutch's last agony -- depression. -- Customers who bought this item also bought -- drugs. -- The damndest thing -- Diane smoked jive -- duty. -- The king's escape -- Mary and Beth -- education. -- Sample problems: intermediate matematics for poets -- ego. -- Bands you probaby haven't heard of -- So many people to thank -- employment. -- Personal assistant -- Your humble server -- erotica. -- Some vast assemblage -- escape. -- Safe house -- Young monarch -- exhaustion. -- Genesis 1 (reprise).
Fame. -- 97-over par -- Our descent -- Sorry, wrong door -- family. -- Argument over Jupiter -- Cousin Madelyn -- fantasies. -- Barbara -- To do -- forgetfulness. -- July 8 -- forgiveness. -- Confessional -- furniture. -- Instructions for assembly -- games. -- Check -- How to play -- gossip. -- A brief conversation between two friends who are also lions -- grief. -- Early drafts for the five stages of grief -- Good grief -- My apologies -- hallucination. -- Cabin fever dream -- health. -- Breakup side effects -- history. -- Haunting the docents -- horror. -- Absolute certainty -- Silver birches -- What he is -- hospice. -- Roses -- identity. -- Noir I -- identity, mistaken. -- A fistful of feathers -- indigestion. -- All you can eat -- inheritance. -- Mother lode -- interrogation. -- The night in question -- William -- jealousy. -- John and Victor (and Catherine) -- Toby -- judgment. -- The accused -- justice. -- Another animated description of Mr. Maps -- karma. -- Apples -- Fantasy adolescent -- ketamine. -- Straight from the horse's mouth -- kidnapping. -- Corsican coast interrogation.
Language. -- Very good boy -- loneliness. -- Your new friend -- loss. -- Dowpour -- Joshua and Nicolai -- love. -- An extraordinary woman -- Maria -- Spellcaster -- mixology. -- Seasonal craft cocktails -- money. -- Ruth -- mountaineering. -- Base camp -- murder. -- Noir II -- Shvitz -- music. -- This mixtape is terrible -- This mixtape is worse -- nature. -- Creatures of the Atlantic Ocean commentary (take 3) -- nausea. -- Seasick -- navigation. -- A walk -- Directions -- nitroglycerin. -- Detonator -- nostalgia. -- I was -- obsession. -- How easy -- Red -- occult, the. -- Fine, if you will keep asking about it, a complete list of everything inside the locked room on the third floor, which, yes, sometimes leaks an oil-like substance and occasionally sounds like a murder of crows molesting a harpsichord -- Holy smoke -- optimism. -- Apology in C-sharp minor -- Chin up -- The other hand -- order. -- The life of Carlos -- orinthology. -- Robin.
Patience. -- The greatest story never told -- House white -- Speed dates -- Table for one -- pity. -- Adrian -- pizza -- Rachel -- prophecy. -- Haiku #1 -- Madame Eva -- protest. -- And another thing -- Undertow -- quarantine. -- Norman -- quietude. -- Murmuration -- quotation. -- Famous last words -- recall. -- Poor John -- The Ten Commandments, from memory -- recruitment. -- West Adams, 11 p.m. -- reenactmen.t -- He said -- She said -- relationships. -- Fifty more ways to leave your lover -- religion. -- Grace -- savagery. -- Crime scene -- Root and branch -- sea, the. -- Captain -- self-doubt. -- Fair dismissal -- Review are in -- self-help. -- How to win friends and influence people -- siblings. -- Visiting hours -- sports. -- Pep talk -- A short British argument -- technology. -- Keynote -- tedium. -- Your dream -- television. -- News at eleven -- theater, the. -- Hamlet: a book report -- Intermission -- timing. -- Maggie -- The usual suspect -- ultimatums. -- Either/or -- unhappiness. -- Haiku #2 -- unknown, the. -- Manhole -- Onward, seaward -- vendettas. -- Going to Istanbul -- vice. -- Attention, passengers -- virginity. -- Whatever floats your boat.
Wanderlust. -- Vanishing point -- weather. -- Rains -- widowhood. -- Something to be glad about -- wine. -- Tasting notes -- writing. -- Researching Lycaon Pictus, or the African wild dog -- xenophobia. -- This guy -- xylophones. -- The sting -- yearning. -- Orlando, FL -- youth. -- Reveille -- Under this roof -- yuletide. -- My true love gave to me -- zen. -- Guided meditation -- zombies. -- Miranda.
Fame. -- 97-over par -- Our descent -- Sorry, wrong door -- family. -- Argument over Jupiter -- Cousin Madelyn -- fantasies. -- Barbara -- To do -- forgetfulness. -- July 8 -- forgiveness. -- Confessional -- furniture. -- Instructions for assembly -- games. -- Check -- How to play -- gossip. -- A brief conversation between two friends who are also lions -- grief. -- Early drafts for the five stages of grief -- Good grief -- My apologies -- hallucination. -- Cabin fever dream -- health. -- Breakup side effects -- history. -- Haunting the docents -- horror. -- Absolute certainty -- Silver birches -- What he is -- hospice. -- Roses -- identity. -- Noir I -- identity, mistaken. -- A fistful of feathers -- indigestion. -- All you can eat -- inheritance. -- Mother lode -- interrogation. -- The night in question -- William -- jealousy. -- John and Victor (and Catherine) -- Toby -- judgment. -- The accused -- justice. -- Another animated description of Mr. Maps -- karma. -- Apples -- Fantasy adolescent -- ketamine. -- Straight from the horse's mouth -- kidnapping. -- Corsican coast interrogation.
Language. -- Very good boy -- loneliness. -- Your new friend -- loss. -- Dowpour -- Joshua and Nicolai -- love. -- An extraordinary woman -- Maria -- Spellcaster -- mixology. -- Seasonal craft cocktails -- money. -- Ruth -- mountaineering. -- Base camp -- murder. -- Noir II -- Shvitz -- music. -- This mixtape is terrible -- This mixtape is worse -- nature. -- Creatures of the Atlantic Ocean commentary (take 3) -- nausea. -- Seasick -- navigation. -- A walk -- Directions -- nitroglycerin. -- Detonator -- nostalgia. -- I was -- obsession. -- How easy -- Red -- occult, the. -- Fine, if you will keep asking about it, a complete list of everything inside the locked room on the third floor, which, yes, sometimes leaks an oil-like substance and occasionally sounds like a murder of crows molesting a harpsichord -- Holy smoke -- optimism. -- Apology in C-sharp minor -- Chin up -- The other hand -- order. -- The life of Carlos -- orinthology. -- Robin.
Patience. -- The greatest story never told -- House white -- Speed dates -- Table for one -- pity. -- Adrian -- pizza -- Rachel -- prophecy. -- Haiku #1 -- Madame Eva -- protest. -- And another thing -- Undertow -- quarantine. -- Norman -- quietude. -- Murmuration -- quotation. -- Famous last words -- recall. -- Poor John -- The Ten Commandments, from memory -- recruitment. -- West Adams, 11 p.m. -- reenactmen.t -- He said -- She said -- relationships. -- Fifty more ways to leave your lover -- religion. -- Grace -- savagery. -- Crime scene -- Root and branch -- sea, the. -- Captain -- self-doubt. -- Fair dismissal -- Review are in -- self-help. -- How to win friends and influence people -- siblings. -- Visiting hours -- sports. -- Pep talk -- A short British argument -- technology. -- Keynote -- tedium. -- Your dream -- television. -- News at eleven -- theater, the. -- Hamlet: a book report -- Intermission -- timing. -- Maggie -- The usual suspect -- ultimatums. -- Either/or -- unhappiness. -- Haiku #2 -- unknown, the. -- Manhole -- Onward, seaward -- vendettas. -- Going to Istanbul -- vice. -- Attention, passengers -- virginity. -- Whatever floats your boat.
Wanderlust. -- Vanishing point -- weather. -- Rains -- widowhood. -- Something to be glad about -- wine. -- Tasting notes -- writing. -- Researching Lycaon Pictus, or the African wild dog -- xenophobia. -- This guy -- xylophones. -- The sting -- yearning. -- Orlando, FL -- youth. -- Reveille -- Under this roof -- yuletide. -- My true love gave to me -- zen. -- Guided meditation -- zombies. -- Miranda.
Subjects:
Short stories, American.
Encyclopedias and dictionaries -- Fiction.
Vocabulary -- Fiction.
Minimalism (Literature)
Short stories, American.
Encyclopedias and dictionaries -- Fiction.
Vocabulary -- Fiction.
Minimalism (Literature)
ISBN:
9780062652614
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
F Burrows | Sandhills Indoors | Fiction | In |