Genre: Fiction

Notes: If you love words and the intricacies of writing, you’ll love this book.  It’s cute, it’s funny, it’s clever.

Review: This novel takes place on the fictional island of Nollop, supposedly about 21 miles south of Charleston off of the coast of South Carolina.  Probably a little reminiscent of Hilton Head, SC.  The autonomous island nation worships Nevin Nollop, the guy who apparently invented the phrase “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.”   The shortest phrase to use all 26 letters of the alphabet.  But when the statue of Nollop in the town square starts losing the lettered tiles of the phrase, the Nollopian government outlaws those letters.

When the letters fall, the rest of the novel carries on without that letter.  Cute right?  It’s like Dunn had a “what if” question and made it into a novel.  I can’t fault him for that because I’m fairly sure most authors start their stories that way, but this novel never really made it past the realm of cutesy for me.  A what if question isn’t really enough to base an entire book on.

The book lacks substance, almost like a writing assignment gone wild.  It’s a quick read and probably a good book when you’re traveling and don’t want to have to do as much thinking. I read it in less than 24 hours. I mean Ella Minnow Pea? (Think LMNOP) How can you not love that?

Bottom Line: Even if it’s insubstantial, it’s definitely enjoyable!