
The Broken Teaglass
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Narrated by:
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Eileen Stevens
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Oliver Wyman
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Therese Plummer
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By:
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Emily Arsenault
About this listen
The dusty files of a venerable dictionary publisher, a hidden cache of coded clues, a story written by a phantom author, an unsolved murder in a gritty urban park. All collide memorably in Emily Arsenault's magnificent debut, at once a teasing literary puzzle, an ingenious suspense novel, and an exploration of definitions: of words, of who we are, and of the stories we choose to define us.
In the maze of cubicles at Samuelson Company, editors toil away in silence, studying the English language, poring over new expressions and freshly coined words - all in preparation for the next new edition of the Samuelson Dictionary. Among them is editorial assistant Billy Webb, just out of college, struggling to stay awake and appear competent. But there are a few distractions. His intriguing coworker Mona Minot may or may not be flirting with him. And he's starting to sense something suspicious going on beneath this company's academic facade.
Mona has just made a startling discovery: a trove of puzzling citations, all taken from the same book, The Broken Teaglass. Billy and Mona soon learn that no such book exists. And the quotations from it are far too long, twisting, and bizarre for any dictionary. They read like a confessional, coyly hinting at a hidden identity, a secret liaison, a crime.
As Billy and Mona ransack the office files, a chilling story begins to emerge: a story about a lonely young woman, a long-unsolved mystery, a moment of shattering violence. And as they piece together its fragments, the puzzle begins to take on bigger personal meaning for both of them, compelling them to redefine their notions of themselves and each other.
Charged with wit and intelligence, set against a sweetly cautious love story, The Broken Teaglass is a tale that will delight lovers of words, lovers of mysteries, and fans of smart, funny, brilliantly inventive fiction.
©2009 Emily Arsenault (P)2010 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
Unsatisfying
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In a word...BORRRRRRRRRING!
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Not only for grammarians; a good mystery & subplot
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Whose idea was it to approach narration in such a disjointed way, whereby a female narrator steps in to deliver just the female dialogue (while the male narrator adds an infuriating "she said" etc to the end) -- and vice-versa. I've enjoyed multiple-narrator books before (notably The Time Traveller's Wife) but in those cases the narration followed a narrative structure where characters alternate point of view chapters.
People fail to understand that the experience of an audiobook is not meant to be equivalent to a trip to the theatre. It's closer to reading, and the narrator and producers' job is to get out of the way and let you forget you're listening to an audiobook the same way your forget you're reading a book on paper. Every self-conscious jolt between narrators reminds you that it's an artificial process -- in this case far more artificial than the usual, which is really just storytelling.
I'm convinced that whoever thought this approach could contribute to listeners' enjoyment of the book has never listened to an audiobook.
Not a bad story but almost impossible for me to appreciate.
Production flawed
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Banal
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DULL DULL and FLAT
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Also suitable for the person who peruses the dictionary for fun. And likes a slowly unfolding read.
The primary narrator does a great job catching the lost, slacker tone of the main character, a recent college grad who finds himself in a small New England town working in the deadly unexciting world (at least by this book's description) of dictionary editors.
My main gripe with this is the disconcerting narration provided for the secondary characters.
The main character is, for example, describing a conversation with Mona. When it's Mona's turn to talk, a brand new female voice springs in, says Mona's lines, and then the male voice comes back in to say, "Mona said."
I've never heard an audiobook do this and it's really jarring. I did get used to it and fell into the small mystery of this book. And I do mean small.
I think this book strived to be something like "The Secret of Lost Things." Or maybe even something a little gothic like "The Thirteenth Tale" or even one of Carlos Luiz Safron's book-centric tales. At least in terms of loving books and words.
There are some brilliant moments in terms of prose. There is some seriously good writing here, and the characters are clearly drawn, unique, and even likeable in their unlike-able-ness (yeah, I know I won't find any etymology on THAT one).
All in all, it's a small, nice story, but not great. It's very slow...and I LOVE slow books.
Jarring narration ruins story
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Save your credits
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Mystery smystery and romantic downer.
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I thought the narrators did a nice job and enjoyed learning more about lexicography. If you are interested in learning about how a dictionary is created and enjoy a mystery, you'll like this book.
The Broken Teaglass
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