Shady Characters

The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks

By: Keith Houston

Narrated by: Elliot Fitzpatrick

A charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across the parallel histories of language and typography.

Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger (†)—which alternately illuminated and skewered heretical verses of the early Bible—or the at sign (@), which languished in obscurity for centuries until rescued by the Internet, Keith Houston draws on myriad sources to chart the life and times of these enigmatic squiggles, both exotic (¶) and everyday (&).

From the Library of Alexandria to the halls of Bell Labs, figures as diverse as Charlemagne, Vladimir Nabokov, and George W. Bush cross paths with marks as obscure as the interrobang (?) and as divisive as the dash (-). Ancient Roman graffiti, Venetian trading shorthand, Cold War double agents, and Madison Avenue round out an ever more diverse set of episodes, characters, and artifacts.

Ranging across time, typographies, and countries, Shady Characters will delight and entertain all who cherish the unpredictable and surprising in the writing life.

©2013 Keith Houston (P)2023 Tantor

If you’re into this sort of thing, it’s awesome.

Look, you either like books about the obscure history of punctuation or you don’t. I teach ELA and Creative Writing, so this is great. If you enjoy it, too, join the other six of us who actually like this sort of niche because this is it.

A Fascinating Read!

Shady Characters outlines and explains the history behind the punctuation marks used in modern English. From the humble pilcrow to the social hashtag, this book dives into the complex history of the most interesting characters of today’s typefaces.

Interesting history of type

I generally found the history of the symbols fascinating. I would’ve appreciated a PDF download illustrating the shapes each of the chapters is talking about. The narrator does mispronounce the odd word and name so probably needed better direction.