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From Quotations to Culture
Yale University Press
July 2011
On Sale: June 28, 2011
358 pages ISBN: 0300167474 EAN: 9780300167474 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
In this lively gambol through the history of quotations and
quotation books, Gary Saul Morson traces our enduring
fascination with the words of others. Ranging from the
remote past to the present, he explores the formation,
development, and significance of quotations, while exploring
the "verbal museums" in which they have been collected and
displayed--commonplace books, treasuries, and anthologies.
In his trademark clear, witty, and provocative style, Morson
invites readers to share his delight in the shortest
literary genre. The author defines what makes a quote quotable, as well as
the (unexpected) differences between quotation and
misquotation. He describes how quotations form, transform,
and may eventually become idioms. How much of language
itself is the residue of former quotations? Weaving in
hundreds of intriguing quotations, common and unusual,
Morson explores how the words of others constitute essential
elements in the formation of a culture and of the self
within that culture. In so doing, he provides a
demonstration of that very process, captured in the pages of
this extraordinary new book.
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