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Shady Characters

The secret life of punctuation

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Shady Characters is miscellany, books, and more from Keith Houston. Here you’ll find information technologies of the unorthodox kind: from emoji to unusual marks of punctuation; from codices to calculators; and everything in between.

Now available to pre-order, Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji. Learn more

Win the Empire of the Sum audio book!

November 5, 2023

The Empire of the Sum audio book is out now, narrated by Elliot Fitzpatrick, and this is your chance to win one of four (four!) free copies at audiobooks.com. To enter, leave a comment on this post with a valid email address so that I can contact you in the event that you win.

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We have (even more) winners!

October 8, 2023

Congratulations to Marta and Rosemary, winners of the third round of the Empire of the Sum giveaway! Their names were picked at random from the set of all entrants who replied to the original post about the competition. Thank you all for taking part!

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Win a copy of Empire of the Sum!

October 1, 2023

It has been a long time coming, but Empire of the Sum will be published in the UK and other non-US countries this coming Friday, the 6th of October. To celebrate, non-US readers finally have a chance to win one of two free copies of the book! To enter, leave a comment on this post with a valid email address so that I can contact you in the event that you win.

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book, competition 42 Comments

We have more winners!

September 8, 2023

Congratulations to Robert Oesterreich and Fred Grant, winners of the second round of the Empire of the Sum giveaway! Their names were picked at random from the set of all entrants who replied to the original post about the competition.

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book, competition calculator 2 Comments

We have winners – and a new competition!

August 27, 2023

Congratulations to Mary Ann Atwood and John W. Stuart, winners of the first round of the Empire of the Sum giveaway! Their names were picked at random from the set of all entrants who replied the original post about the competition. Thank you all for entering! If you won, congratulations, and look out for an email from me arranging delivery of your copy of Empire. If not, read on.

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Cover for "Face with Tears of Joy", showing the face with tears of joy emoji throughout emoji history
Face with Tears of Joy paperback. (W. W. Norton, 2025.)

My absolute recommendation as the definitive book on emoji history.

Jeremy Burge, founder of Emojipedia

A fascinatingly geeky and witty history.

Steven Poole, The Guardian

A delightful history.

Hunter Dukes, The Telegraph

A history of emoji, where they came from and how they came to dominate our discourse is much needed, and Houston is a witty, pacey raconteur…Face with Tears of Joy is a comprehensive and often illuminating read.

Chris Stokel-Walker, New Scientist
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The sun rises behind a pocket calculator, whose display reads "07734"
Empire of the Sum hardcover. (W. W. Norton, 2023.)

An entertaining, informative story about a technology that defined an era.

Kirkus Reviews

To describe a calculator as “a symphony of solenoids and switches” (that would be an early, discarded model of what would become the Casio 14-A, which went on the market in 1975 for $1,347) may not be erotica, but it is good writing — and these days, the latter is rather more rare.

Alexander Nazaryan, New York Times
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Paperback cover of "The Book", showing the title on a cream band against a dark green background.
The Book paperback. (W. W. Norton, 2025.)

Erudite, playful, and illuminating…a splendid, challenging mixture of information and fun.

Kirkus Reviews

Hundreds of books about books have been published during the past century…I will not claim that this one is the very best of all time. Yet The Book is possibly the best of our time.

Steven Heller, Eye Magazine

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Shady Characters paperback (W. W. Norton, 2014).
Shady Characters paperback (W. W. Norton, 2014).

Punctuation is not a mere ornament or a curiosity — it is essential, and we need to know about it. Keith Houston’s history is entertaining and readable.

Ian Sansom, The Guardian

Scholarly, highly readable and, on some deeper level, slightly deranged.

Marcus Berkmann, The Spectator

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☞
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© Keith Houston 2010–2025 · Colophon