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Keith Houston

Goodreads Author

Born

The United Kingdom

Website

http://shadycharacters.co.uk

Twitter

shadychars

Genre

Nonfiction, History

Member Since

August 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/keith_houston

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Keith Houston is the author of Shady Characters, The Book, and Empire of the Sum. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Mental Floss, BBC Culture, and on Time.com. He lives in Birmingham, England, with his family.

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I am so completely overwhelmed by the amount of information and knowledge you have. "The Book" seems to cover pretty much everything. What does one have to do to know this much stuff? How did you even begin to write about this? "The Book" is the most precious thing I've ever held in my hand. I am reading it very slowly. Very slowly because I need to. And then I go back a few pages and look at the pictures again.

Keith Houston Hi, H - thanks for posing the question! I'm glad you're enjoying "The Book".

Most important for me was having a year or so to devote to research (on to…moreHi, H - thanks for posing the question! I'm glad you're enjoying "The Book".

Most important for me was having a year or so to devote to research (on top of the research I'd already done for "Shady Characters"). Membership of the National Library of Scotland helped me make the most of that year in that I was able to borrow almost any book I needed, however obscure, and to access their rare book collection as needed.

I have to say, at no point did I ever have the sum total of all my research in my head at once. I used Evernote to save and organise anything I found useful - notes, web pages, academic papers, photographs - so that I *didn't* have to remember it, and then gradually winnowed it down to the stuff that would eventually make its way into "The Book". Once I knew my way around the subject, the book's structure seemed more or less obvious - how could I have written it any other way?

Thanks again!
Keith(less)

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As you live in London, I am assuming you are British, and therefore I wonder why you used American spelling in "The Book" (my only quibble with it)? Incidentally, although I have just started to read it (bought after hearing you at Writers' Week in Adelaide), I can see it is going to become one of my cherished possessions. What paper is used in the book? I find myself caressing the pages as I read, they are so sleek!

Keith Houston Hi June - thanks for the question, and thanks for coming to Writer's Week!

I'm Scottish, but "The Book" was published by WW Norton, an American publish…moreHi June - thanks for the question, and thanks for coming to Writer's Week!

I'm Scottish, but "The Book" was published by WW Norton, an American publisher, and so the spelling and general style conform to American standards. As for the paper, turn to page 75 and you'll find out everything you need to know!(less)

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Keith Houston’s books

Average rating: 4.0 · 3,141 ratings · 600 reviews · 8 distinct works • Similar authors

	Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks 3.96 avg rating — 1,875 ratings — published 2013 — 20 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time 4.10 avg rating — 1,054 ratings — published 2016 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator 3.84 avg rating — 211 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston (Goodreads Author), Elliot Fitzpatrick (reader) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston (Goodreads Author), Elliot Fitzpatrick (reader) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator - Library Edition by Keith Houston (Goodreads Author), Elliot Fitzpatrick (narrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks - Library Edition by Keith Houston (Goodreads Author), Elliot Fitzpatrick (narrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Keith The path of the lustful Gold 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Keith Houston's Blog

Shady Characters on Alan Alda’s Clear and Vivid podcast

I’m still pinching myself, but recently I had the distinct pleasure on appearing on Clear and Vivid podcast, hosted by the great Alan Alda. I knew of Alan’s work as an actor and writer from the likes of M*A*S*H , of course, but I hadn’t known that in recent years he has moved into the world of science communication, not least with the foundation of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at

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Keith Houston wrote a new blog post Shady Characters on Alan Alda’s Clear and Vivid podcast I’m still pinching myself, but recently I had the distinct pleasure on appearing on Clear and Vivid podcast, hosted by the great Alan Alda. I knew of Read more of this blog post »
Mar 10, 2024 03:19AM · 2 likes · like
Keith Houston made a comment on We have (even more) winners! " Not at all! I hope you enjoy the book. "
Oct 12, 2023 08:59AM · see blog post
Keith Houston has read Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator by Keith Houston (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 28, 2023 01:16PM · like

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Quotes by Keith Houston (?)

“This invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them. – Thamus, on the invention of hieroglyphics”
― Keith Houston, The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time

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“Like laws and sausages, if you love parchment it is perhaps best not to see it being made.”
― Keith Houston, The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time

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“This book is about the history and the making and the bookness of all those books, the weighty, complicated, inviting artifacts that humanity has been writing, printing, and binding for more than fifteen hundred years.”
― Keith Houston, The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time

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