Misadventures of an Armchair Linguist

Biting the Wax Tadpole

A hilarious look at the world's languages - from the inside out

Elizabeth Little is a writer and editor living in New York City. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times. This is her first book.

What can Johnny Cash&rsquo;s lyrics teach us about the little-known Tangut dialect? Is &lsquo;tabernacle&rsquo; really a swear word in Quebecois? Which language has absolutely no verbs? What is Earth&rsquo;s politest insult? And what is biting the wax tadpole actually a translation of?* 
 
Prepare for a hilarious rollercoaster ride through hundreds of well-known, obscure, difficult, dead and even made-up languages. Elizabeth Little has waded through innumerable verb tables in every available mood and tense, untangled up to eighteen cases of noun, and wrestled with all kinds of complicated adjective, participles and glottal stops to bring you the best and most bizarre quirks of the ways people communicate all around the globe. 
 
From the language that has no different word for &lsquo;blue&rsquo; or &lsquo;green&rsquo;, to why Icelanders need official permission to name their children, from what makes a Korean TV hit to what people might think you&rsquo;re saying if you order eggs in Spain, Biting the Wax Tadpole will ensure you&rsquo;re never lost for words again. 
 
*Coca-Cola, would you believe it?

Elizabeth Little

Pacy and exciting...Totally different

Gone Girl meets Mean Girls

Dear Daughter has three of my favorite things in a book: a smart, damaged, unstoppable narrator with a slicing sense of humor; needle-sharp writing that brings characters and atmosphere leaping off the page; and a vivid, original plot full of satisfying twists. This is an all-nighter, and the best debut mystery I've read in a long time

A really gutsy, clever, energetic read, often unexpected, always entertaining. I loved Janie Jenkins’s sassy voice and Elizabeth Little’s too. In the world of crime novels, Dear Daughter is a breath of fresh air

With a narrator so unreliable you suffer from constant seasickness, and the same fizzy sense of the media tracking the case that gave Gone Girl such edge, this is the thriller of the summer… This is so damn good that it’s worth going on holiday with someone you hate, just so you can ignore them all week

The real pleasure of this novel is its main character. As narrator, Janie is razor sharp, amoral and fizzing with coal-black wisecracks… A very modern and very funny take on a murder mystery

Every year a few books stand out. This is one of them

With a compelling cast of superbly drawn characters, a serpentine plot and crackling dialogue laced with stark, pungent asides, Dear Daughter defies you to put it down

This crime fiction début is the real deal. Unreliable narrator? Check. Plot twists? Yup. Razor-sharp writing? That, too... A thrilling, gripping read

A clever, witty thriller you’ll want to gobble up in one go

This amazing book is like Gone Girl meets Gossip Girl - it's gonna be HUGE!

Scalpel sharp, plenty of twists and a feisty narrator, you won’t be able to put it down

Clever, original, and darkly witty, Dear Daughter’s many twists will keep you on your toes as you fall under the spell of its unapologetic, whip-smart narrator

Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia

Extremely well-written…a brilliant début…outstanding

What a devilish, delightful treat of a novel! Crackling with wit and shining with originality, Dear Daughter is the kind of whirlwind mystery that will keep you hooked—and guessing—until the very end

Sara Shepard, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Little Liars

The writing is sharp as a tack, the heroine feisty and the mystery will keep you guessing until the very last page – a corker

A terrific page-turner...hilarious... Finally, a thriller that deserves the tag 'the new Gone Girl'

Julie Cohen, author of Richard and Judy choice, Dear Thing

Elizabeth Little has created a fast-reading mystery rich in dialogue, demonstrating a special talent for great one-liners and crisp observation, and has given her protagonist enough sass and wit to complement the half-wits she has to tolerate on a daily basis as she tries to recover her memory of past events and solve a mystery where she just might be the killer

Derek B. Miller, CWA award-winning author of Norwegian By Night

Smart, darkly funny and packed with plot twists… Heroine Janie is an engaging and complex character… An enjoyable romp of a read which is incredibly difficult to put down

Janie Jenkins [is] a snide, sharp-tongued and sparky LA bitch channeling  her inner Paris Hilton

Captivating… Sharp and dramatic – we couldn’t put it down!

[Janie’s] wit is bitter and devastating, her put-downs Pulitzer-worthy

Fresh and fizzing and original, this is such an impressive debut

Gone Girl meets Mean Girls in this sharp and clever thriller from the publishers of The Never List 
 
Hollywood It Girl Janie Jenkins has it all. 
 
 The looks, the brains, the money, the fame. 
 
 Oh, and the murder conviction – for killing her mother. 
 
Out of jail and on the run, she’s determined to prove her innocence and find out what really happened the night her mother died. 
 
The only problem? 
 
Janie’s not totally sure that she is innocent…

Dear Daughter

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The perfect gift? A Penguin Shop gift card

Elizabeth Little

Praise for Dear Daughter

Pacy and exciting...Totally different

***Gone Girl* meets *Mean Girls***

Dear Daughter has three of my favorite things in a book: a smart, damaged, unstoppable narrator with a slicing sense of humor; needle-sharp writing that brings characters and atmosphere leaping ...

Pacy and exciting...Totally different

***Gone Girl* meets *Mean Girls***

Dear Daughter has three of my favorite things in a book: a smart, damaged, unstoppable narrator with a slicing sense of humor; needle-sharp writing that brings characters and atmosphere leaping ...

Pacy and exciting...Totally different

***Gone Girl* meets *Mean Girls***

Dear Daughter has three of my favorite things in a book: a smart, damaged, unstoppable narrator with a slicing sense of humor; needle-sharp writing that brings characters and atmosphere leaping ...

Books by Elizabeth Little

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