An Admirable Point: A Brief History of the Exclamation Mark!

By Florence Hazrat

Book Overview

"So chock-full of interesting facts and ideas that it will leave most readers saying, 'Wow!'"--Booklist

Few punctuation marks elicit quite as much love or hate as the exclamation mark. It's bubbly and exuberant, an emotional amplifier whose flamboyantly dramatic gesture lets the reader know: here be feelings! Scott Fitzgerald famously stated exclamation marks are like laughing at your own joke; Terry Pratchett had a character say that multiple !!! are a 'sure sign of a diseased mind'. So what's the deal with ! ?

Whether you think it's over-used, or enthusiastically sprinkle your writing with it, ! is inescapable. An Admirable Point recuperates the exclamation mark from its much maligned 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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1567927874
• ISBN13: 9781567927870
• Release Date: March 2023
• Publisher: David R. Godine Publisher
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 7.9"