{"product_id":"9780544800168","title":"The African Svelte: Ingenious Misspellings That Make Surprising Sense","description":"\u003cb\u003eInspired by his tenure at \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker,\u003c\/i\u003e this collection of comical, revelatory errors foraged from the wilds of everyday English comes with commentary by the author, illustrations by Roz Chast, and a foreword from Billy Collins.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e During his time at \u003ci\u003eThe \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew Yorker, \u003c\/i\u003eDaniel Menaker happened across a superb spelling mistake: “The zebras were grazing on the African svelte.\" Fascinated by the idea of unintentionally meaningful spelling errors, he began to see that these gaffes—neither typos nor auto-corrects—are sometimes more interesting than their \u003ci\u003estraight-laced \u003c\/i\u003ecounterparts. Through examples he has collected over the course of his decades-long career as an editor and writer, he brings us to a new understanding of language--how it's used, what it means, and what fun it can be. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIllustrated by the inimitable Roz Chast, with a foreword from former poet laureate Billy Collins, \u003ci\u003eThe African Svelte \u003c\/i\u003eoffers thoughtful and intelligent \u003ci\u003eexit Jesus. \u003c\/i\u003eMenaker \u003ci\u003eglances at  \u003c\/i\u003efamiliar fumbles like \"for all intensive purposes\" and \"doggy-dog world,\" but readers delighted by language will find themselves turning the pages with \u003ci\u003ebaited breath\u003c\/i\u003e to discover fresh howlers that have them laughing off their \u003ci\u003edairy airs.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Houghton Mifflin Harcourt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47106094235888,"sku":"9780544800168","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780544800168_p0.jpg?v=1769895606","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780544800168","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}