{"product_id":"nabokovs-favorite-word-is-mauve-9781501105395","title":"Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve","description":"\u003cb\u003eData meets literature in this \"enlightening\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e), \"brilliant\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e), \"Nate Silver-esque\" (\u003ci\u003eO, The Oprah Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e) look at what the numbers have to say about our favorite authors and their masterpieces.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThere's a famous piece of writing advice--offered by Ernest Hemingway, Stephen King, and myriad writers in between--not to use -ly adverbs like \"quickly\" or \"angrily.\" It sounds like solid advice, but can we actually test it? If we were to count all the -ly adverbs these authors used in their careers, do they follow their own advice? What's more, do great books in general--the classics and the bestsellers--share this trait? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the age of big data we can answer questions like these in the blink of an eye. In \u003ci\u003eNabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve\u003c\/i\u003e, a \"literary detective story: fast-paced, thought-provoking, and intriguing\" (Brian Christian, coauthor of \u003ci\u003eAlgorithms to Live By\u003c\/i\u003e), statistician and journalist Ben Blatt explores the wealth of fun findings that can be discovered by using text and data analysis. He assembles a database of thousands of books and hundreds of millions of words, and then he asks the questions that have intrigued book lovers for generations: What are our favorite authors' favorite words? Do men and women write differently? Which bestselling writer uses the most clichés? What makes a great opening sentence? And which writerly advice is worth following or ignoring? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAll of Blatt's investigations and experiments are original, conducted himself, and no math knowledge is needed to enjoy the book. On every page, there are new and eye-opening findings. By the end, you will have a newfound appreciation of your favorite authors and also come away with a fresh perspective on your own writing. \"Blatt's new book reveals surprising literary secrets\" (\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e) and casts an x-ray through literature, allowing us to see both the patterns that hold it together and the brilliant flourishes that allow it to spring to life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlatt, Ben:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Ben Blatt is a former staff writer for \u003ci\u003eSlate \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Harvard Lampoon \u003c\/i\u003ewho has taken his fun approach to data journalism to topics such as \u003ci\u003eSeinfeld, \u003c\/i\u003e mapmaking, The Beatles, and \u003ci\u003eJeopardy!\u003c\/i\u003e He is the author of \u003ci\u003eNabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve\u003c\/i\u003e and, with Eric Brewster, the coauthor of \u003ci\u003eI Don't Care if We Never Get Back\u003c\/i\u003e, which follows the duo's quest to go on the mathematically optimal baseball road trip, traveling 20,000 miles to a game in all thirty ballparks in thirty days without planes. Blatt's work has also been published in \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eDeadspin\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50662467272978,"sku":"9781501105395","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b7319542-4284-443c-8c41-44a9d27629e5.jpg?v=1733524886","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/nabokovs-favorite-word-is-mauve-9781501105395","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}