An admirable point : a brief history of the exclamation mark! Cover Image

Book

An admirable point : a brief history of the exclamation mark!

Summary: "Few punctuation marks elicit quite as much love or hate as the exclamation point. It's bubbly and exuberant, an emotional amplifier whose flamboyantly dramatic gesture lets the reader know: here be feelings! Scott Fitzgerald famously stated exclamation points are like laughing at your own joke; Terry Pratchett had a Discworld character say that multiple !!! are a 'sure sign of a diseased mind'. So what's the deal with ! ? AN ADMIRABLE POINT recuperates the exclamation point from its much-maligned and misunderstood place at the bottom of the punctuation hierarchy. It explores how ! came about in the first place some six hundred years ago, and uncovers the many ways in which ! has left its mark on art, literature, (pop) culture, and just about any sphere of human activity - from Beowulf to spam emails, ee cummings to neuroscience. Whether you think it's over-used, or enthusiastically sprinkle your writing with it, ! is inescapable"--

Record details

ISBN: 9781567927887
ISBN: 1567927874
ISBN: 9781567927870
Physical Description: 175 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm
print
Edition: First U.S. edition.
Publisher: Boston : Godine, 2023.
Copyright: ©2022

Content descriptions

General Note:	Includes index. Edition statement found on Editor's note. "First published in Great Britain by Profile Books, Ltd. in 2022"--Title page verso.
Formatted Contents Note:	Introduction: The spiked delights of ! -- A very pathetical point : ! through ages -- The period that blew its top : thinking and feeling ! -- 'so !f!' : literature and the flaming pink scarf -- Oi!!! : perking up with punctuation -- Radiating punctuation : exclamatory politics and the nuclear bomb -- At your fingertips : digital ! -- Epilogue: Quo vadis!