Alphabetical

How Every Letter Tells a Story

By: Michael Rosen

Narrated by: Michael Rosen

From minding your Ps and Qs to wondering why X should mark the spot, Alphabetical is a book for everyone who loves words and language. Whether it's how letters are arranged on keyboards or Viking runes, textspeak or zip codes, this book will change the way you think about letters for ever.

How on Earth did we fix upon our twenty-six letters, what do they really mean, and how did we come to write them down in the first place? Michael Rosen takes you on an unforgettable adventure through the history of the alphabet in twenty-six vivid chapters, fizzing with personal anecdotes and fascinating facts. Starting with the mysterious Phoenicians and how sounds first came to be written down, he races on to show how nonsense poems work, pins down the strange story of OK, traces our seven lost letters and tackles the tyranny of spelling, among many, many other things.

His heroes of the alphabet range from Edward Lear to Phyllis Pearsall (the inventor of the A-Z), and from the two scribes of Beowulf to rappers. Each chapter takes on a different subject - whether it's codes, umlauts or the writing of dictionaries. Rosen's enthusiasm for letters positively leaps off the page, whether it's the story of his life told through the typewriters he's owned or a chapter on jokes written in a string of gags and word games.

So if you ever wondered why Hawaiian only has a thirteen-letter alphabet, why X should mark the spot or became shorthand for Christmas or how exactly to write down the sound of a wild raspberry, read on . . .

(P)2013 Hodder & Stoughton©2013 Michael Rosen

Critic reviews

[Michael Rosen's] beguiling journey through the alphabet will entrance anyone interested in the quirks of language and its history . . . Rosen has written a charming and thought-provoking book about what written language represents, how we use it, and the joys and mysteries therein. His humor and obvious love for his subject are winning elements

The perfect book for anyone who relishes the intricacies of language and letters . . . [Rosen] reveals a gift for seamlessly meshing hard information, personal anecdote, jokes and puzzles with educational, cultural and linguistic questions and wry, pointed, observations . . . There are delights in this book for all ages

Where is PDF?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Good book but narrator refers to PDF many times and it is not available for this book

What does Michael Rosen bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Pleasant voice

Any additional comments?

Would be MUCH improved by a PDF!

very enjoyable

story and history of the alphabet. where did all those letters come from? now you'll know.
great narrator.

delightfully entertaining

A high energy narration combined with interesting factoids about provenance and usage of letters and words, made for a very entertaining listening experience.

An excellent read (Listen) The author really bring

If you could sum up Alphabetical in three words, what would they be?

Funny, Historical, Interesting

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The History and the evolution of our modern alphabet.

What about Michael Rosen’s performance did you like?

The authors enthusiasm for the subject. You can tell he really loves the history and lore of our modern alphabet and this comes across in his performance.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When the Author recounted his memories of watching his mother at her typewriter.

Any additional comments?

I learned more than I thought I ever would about our modern alphabet and I had a great time along the way. I will listen to this book again...

Not really "Linguistics" but a lot of fun

Linguistics is one of my favorite topics and I have listened to and read many on the topic. I thought this book was going to be a serious study of the history of the alphabet. I was wrong, but more than pleasantly surprised. Each letter of the alphabet is the starting off point for each chapter, but then Michael Rosen takes you on a wonderful trip of language and delight after the serious stuff is over. Michael reads the book in his delightful accent and just has a lot of fun. He is more a comedian and storyteller than an academic - more to his credit. Highly recommend for a fun trip down the alphabet.