Nabokov's Favourite Word Is Mauve - The literary quirks and oddities of our most-loved authors by Ben Blatt (UK edition, paperback) - 9781471152832

What are our favourite authors' words? Which bestselling writer uses the most clichés? How can we judge a book by its cover? Data meets literature in this playful and informative look at our favourite authors and their masterpieces.  'What fun this is! Ben Blatt's charming book applies numerical know-how to questions of literary style, teasing out insights about cliffhangers, adverbs' JORDAN ELLENBERG, author of How Not to Be Wrong 'Lively ... worthwhile ... Read this book thoughtfully. It's fun. And, I think, the shape of interesting things to come' The Times  'Fascinating ... the book had me humming with pleasure' The Sunday Times Nabokov's Favourite Word is Mauve is a playful look at what the numbers have to say about our favourite authors and their classic books. Journalist and statistician Ben Blatt asks the questions that have intrigued curious book lovers for generations: Does each writer have their own stylistic footprint? Do men and women write differently? What are the crutch words our best-loved authors fall back on? Spanning from Shakespeare and Jane Austen to fan fiction, JK Rowling and Stephen King, Blatt reveals the quirks and oddities of the world's greatest writers.  This is a lighthearted, humorous book that uses numbers to inform our understanding of words to enlighten, to clarify, and, above all, to entertain.What is your favourite author's favourite metaphor? This book will offer you the answers. Nabokov's Favourite Word is Mauve explores what the numbers can reveal about literature's classics, number one bestsellers and our own writing. Review Quote'What fun this is! Ben Blatt’s charming book applies numerical know-how to questions of literary style, teasing out insights about cliffhangers, adverbs' Review Quote'Ben Blatt’s delightful book gives us an original big data perspective on great writers’ work. Its humour, insights and statistical displays are fascinating to behold, even as it helps us develop our own writing' Review Quote‘It was statisticians, rather than historians, who cracked the centuries’ old mystery of the Federalist Papers—and they did it with mere paper and pencil. Operating in the same investigative spirit—and with the benefit of vastly more powerful tools—Ben Blatt probes the literary canon for unexpected revelations and insights. The result is a literary detective story: fast-paced, thought-provoking, and intriguing. In Nabokov’s Favorite Word is Mauve we learn what separates authors’ great works from their lesser ones, how our lit