All-around clever, Dunn's quirky alphabet-based society is original and riveting. I spent much of my reading time laughing out loud at the notes penned by Ella to pals living elsewhere. Ella's town immortalizes their hero, creator of the pangram "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" with a statue in the center of town. When individual letters begin to fall from the statue, the town's idiotic government bans them from use, both written and verbal, providing a challenge to their missive-based society. Dunn counters the challenge in his own writing, using alternate, occasionally mildly inaccurate words and showing the strength of the English language is not just its magnitude but also its specificity.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book when I started reading it. Sure, it'd gotten a great review in the Christian Science Monitor, which is where I'd first heard of it, but the whole thing sounded gimmicky and contrived. But it was an epistolary novel, which I generally like, so I plunged in. And yes, it's contrived--it has to be--but it works. And in between the vanishing letters (and the author's cleverness in being able to write with less and less of the alphabet available to him) is a tale of political tyranny and a tribute to freedom of expression: not bad for a novel of only 208 pages.

Oh, and I enjoyed reading something not dumbed down to the lowest common denominator--it's been a while since I've read a novel where I needed to look some words up in the dictionary. ( )

Even though the title is arguably the most clever part of this little epistolary book, it's charming and witty all the same. A very quick read with more political depth than you would expect. Some very witty wordplay--as evidenced by the title. ( )

The conceit, that letters are outlawed, one by one, as they fall from a statue of the country of Nollop's founder and the letters exchanged between the characters must be written without these letters, should become tiresome over time. Instead, the steady contraction of vocabulary available is chilling and beautifully illustrates the effect of despotism on this small island community. A fantastic book! ( )

I don't know if high school students are still required to read "Animal Farm", but if I were a teacher I would gladly assign this novel instead. Ella lives on the island of Nollop, named for the gentleman who created "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." The citizens of Nollop idolize their founder, literally. As alphabet tiles fall from the statue erected in his honor, the island's Council believes it has discerned Mr. Nollop's divine edit by banning those letters from use on the island. As letters continue to fall and the island loses its library and newspaper - as citizens live in fear of the dreadful punishment awaiting anyone who uses a banned letter - as the Council becomes more entrenched in power and its delusion, Ella finds herself alone in the fight to regain freedom of expression. The novel is beyond clever. It is a quick, enjoyable, poignant read that packs a powerful punch. ( )