2 options
The liar's dictionary : a novel / Eley Williams.
Athenaeum of Philadelphia - Fiction Williams Liar
Available
Van Pelt Library PR6123.I549 L53 2020
By Request
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Williams, Eley, author.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Lexicographers--Fiction.
- Lexicographers.
- Encyclopedias and dictionaries--Fiction.
- Encyclopedias and dictionaries.
- Truthfulness and falsehood--Fiction.
- Truthfulness and falsehood.
- Threats of violence.
- Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.).
- English language--Etymology.
- English language--Etymology--Fiction.
- English language.
- Unrequited love--Fiction.
- Unrequited love.
- Coming out (Sexual orientation)--Fiction.
- Coming out (Sexual orientation).
- Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)--Fiction.
- Threats of violence--Fiction.
- Great Britain--History--Victoria, 1837-1901--Fiction.
- Great Britain.
- History.
- Genre:
- Fiction.
- Historical fiction.
- History.
- Romance fiction.
- Physical Description:
- 270 pages ; 22 cm
- regular print
- Edition:
- First United States edition.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Doubleday, [2020]
- Summary:
- "Peter Winceworth, a disaffected Victorian lexicographer, inserts false entries into a dictionary - violating and subverting the dictionary's authority - in an attempt to assert some sense of individual purpose and artistic freedom. In the present day, Mallory, a young overworked and underpaid intern employed by the dictionary's publishing house, is tasked with uncovering these entries before the work is digitised. As the novel progresses and their narratives combine, as Winceworth imagines who will find his fictional words in an unknown future and Mallory discovers more about the anonymous lexicographer's life through the clues left in his fictitious entries, both discover how they might negotiate the complexities of an absurd, relentless, untrustworthy, hoax-strewn, undefinable life.Braiding together contemporary and historical narratives, the novel explores themes of trust, agency and creativity, celebrating the rigidity, fragility and absurdity of language."--Provided by publisher.
- Local Notes:
- Athenaeum copy: Schneidman Fund bookplate.
- Other Format:
- Online version: Williams, Eley, The liar's dictionary
- ISBN:
- 9780385546775
- 0385546777
- 9780593311868
- 0593311868
- 9781785152047
- 1785152041
- OCLC:
- 1150807703
The Penn Libraries is committed to describing library materials using current, accurate, and responsible language. If you discover outdated or inaccurate language, please fill out this feedback form to report it and suggest alternative language.