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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherHolt & Company, Henry
ISBN-100805068120
ISBN-139780805068122
eBay Product ID (ePID)1909432
Product Key Features
Book TitleAuthor Unknown : Tales of a Literary Detective
Number of Pages320 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year2001
TopicStyle Manuals, Authorship, Linguistics / Semantics, General, Books & Reading
FeaturesRevised
GenreLiterary Criticism, True Crime, Language Arts & Disciplines
AuthorDon Foster
FormatTrade Paperback
Dimensions
Item Height0.9 in
Item Weight16 Oz
Item Length9.3 in
Item Width5.5 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
Reviews"[Foster's] accounts of his high-profile roles in transatlantic Shakespearean squabbles and journalistic whodunits are both personable and page-turning"-- Publishers Weekly , starred review "[A] hell of an interesting book: Foster writes precisely and artfully, with easy humor and a cadenced wit."-- Salon.com, "[Foster's] accounts of his high-profile roles in transatlantic Shakespearean squabbles and journalistic whodunits are both personable and page-turning"--Publishers Weekly, starred review "[A] hell of an interesting book: Foster writes precisely and artfully, with easy humor and a cadenced wit."--Salon.com
Edition DescriptionRevised edition
SynopsisSince no two people use language in precisely the same way, our identities are encoded in our own language. Foster has discovered how to unlock that code and invents an entire field of investigationliterary forensicsby which it becomes possible to catch anonymous authors as they ultimately betray their identities with their own words., From the professor with an extraordinary gift for unmasking the authors of anonymous documents comes the inside story of how he solves his most challenging cases. In "Author Unknown," Don Foster reveals a starling fact: since no two people use language in precisely the same way, our identities are encoded in our own language, a kind of literary DNA. Combining traditional scholarship with modern technology, Foster has discovered how to unlock that code and, in the process, has invented an entire field of investigation--literary forensics--by which it becomes possible to catch anonymous authors as they ultimately betray their identities with their own words. Foster's unique skills first came to light when a front-page "New York Times "article announced his discovery that a previously unattributed poem was written by Shakespeare. A few weeks later, Foster solved the mystery that had obsessed America for months when he identified Joe Klein as the author of Primary Colors. Foster also took on the case of an oddball California bag lady who many believed to be the elusive Thomas Pynchon. His contributions to the Unabomber case takes us inside the tangled mind of Ted Kaczynski. And, in the final chapter, Foster makes a surprising-and heartening-discovery about a beloved holiday icon. As entertaining as it is eye opening, "Author Unknown "shows us how Don Foster uses his unusual methods to search out the hidden identities behind anonymous documents of all kinds. Anyone who reads this remarkable book will find it impossible to read-or write-in the same way as before.