The Phone Book

The Curious History of the Book That Everyone Uses But No One Reads

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Writing & Publishing, Publishing, History, Americas, United States, 20th Century
Cover of the book The Phone Book by Ammon Shea, Penguin Publishing Group
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Author: Ammon Shea ISBN: 9781101444115
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group Publication: October 5, 2010
Imprint: TarcherPerigee Language: English
Author: Ammon Shea
ISBN: 9781101444115
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication: October 5, 2010
Imprint: TarcherPerigee
Language: English

Read Ammon Shea's blogs and other content on the Penguin Community.

A surprising, lively, and rich history of that ubiquitous doorstop that most of us take for granted.

Ammon Shea is not your typical thirtysomething book enthusiast. After reading the Oxford English Dictionary from cover to cover (and living to write about it in Reading the OED), what classic, familiar, but little-read book would he turn to next? Yes, the phone book. With his signature combination of humor, curiosity, and passion for combing the dustbins of history, Shea offers readers a guided tour into the surprising, strange, and often hilarious history of the humble phone book.

From the first printed version in 1878 (it had fifty listings and no numbers) to the phone book's role in presidential elections, Supreme Court rulings, Senate filibusters, abstract art, subversive poetry, circus sideshows, criminal investigations, mental-health diagnoses, and much more, this surprising volume reveals a rich and colorful story that has never been told-until now.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Read Ammon Shea's blogs and other content on the Penguin Community.

A surprising, lively, and rich history of that ubiquitous doorstop that most of us take for granted.

Ammon Shea is not your typical thirtysomething book enthusiast. After reading the Oxford English Dictionary from cover to cover (and living to write about it in Reading the OED), what classic, familiar, but little-read book would he turn to next? Yes, the phone book. With his signature combination of humor, curiosity, and passion for combing the dustbins of history, Shea offers readers a guided tour into the surprising, strange, and often hilarious history of the humble phone book.

From the first printed version in 1878 (it had fifty listings and no numbers) to the phone book's role in presidential elections, Supreme Court rulings, Senate filibusters, abstract art, subversive poetry, circus sideshows, criminal investigations, mental-health diagnoses, and much more, this surprising volume reveals a rich and colorful story that has never been told-until now.

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