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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

And the winners are…

August 28, 2016

The third and final round of The Book giveaway is now closed, and I’m pleased to announce that the winners this time are Twitter user Elizabeth Fraser (@Frauhaus) and commenter Frank S. Congratulations to both of them! Their signed copies of The Book will be on their way soon.

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It’s US publication day!

The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Ex­plor­a­tion of the Most Power­ful Ob­ject of Our Time

August 23, 2016

is published today in the US! You can order a copy from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound or Powell’s — or, of course, from your favourite local bookshop. Learn more here, or read an extract over at Medium.

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book, competition, news 7 Comments

We have a winner – and the final competition!

August 22, 2016

The second round of The Book giveaway came to a close yesterday, and I’m pleased to announce that Angela Boothroyd (@StudyingOnline) is the winner. Congratulations to Angela! Her signed copy of The Book will be on its way soon.

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book, competition, news 36 Comments

We have a winner – and a new competition!

August 15, 2016

So! The first round of The Book giveaway came to a close yesterday, and I’m pleased to announce that of the 278 entrants the winner was Gary K. McCormick (@WillotheGlen). Congratulations to Gary! His signed copy of The Book will be on its way soon.

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book, competition, news 32 Comments

It’s publication day!

The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Ex­plor­a­tion of the Most Power­ful Ob­ject of Our Time

August 12, 2016

is published today in the UK! You can order a hardback or digital copy from Amazon The Book Depository, W. W. Norton UK or Waterstones, or you can find it in all good bookshops. Learn more here, or read an extract over at Medium.

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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
    Buy at Norton
    Buy at Amazon.com
    Buy at Bookshop.org
    Buy at Waterstones
    Buy at Google Play Books
    Buy for Kobo

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
    Buy at Norton
    Buy at Amazon.com
    Buy at Barnes & Noble
    Buy at Bookshop.org
    Buy at Waterstones
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    Buy for Kobo

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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Buy at Waterstones
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Buy for Kobo

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