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Rogues, Widows and Orphans

Mischief and Misadventures in the World of Books
By Rebecca Lee
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Brief Description
Word nerds, assemble! This is the book for us - LUCY MANGAN Devilishly funny and clever, this divine comedy of literary errors will remind you why words are such glorious, untameable things - LOUISE WILLDER It's a long journey from a writer's mind to a finished... Read More
Format: Hardback
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An entertaining romp through bookish mishaps, exposing all the weird, wow! and wtf? moments that the literary world has to offer

An entertaining romp through bookish mishaps, exposing all the weird, wow! and wtf? moments that the literary world has to offer

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Word nerds, assemble! This is the book for us - LUCY MANGAN

Devilishly funny and clever, this divine comedy of literary errors will remind you why words are such glorious, untameable things - LOUISE WILLDER

It's a long journey from a writer's mind to a finished book - and a lot needs to go right along the way. But isn't it more interesting when things go wrong? With an expert Penguin editor as your guide, dive into the dark-side of the book world: a secret history fizzing with scandals, rivalries, cock-ups and con jobs.

We'll discover how the tiniest of typos can have oversized consequences, unearth horrifying examples of bad taste and worse style, and peek into tales of forgeries and feuds as dramatic as any thriller. We'll unredact the most egregious cases of censorship, expose hoarders and thieves, and ask: after centuries of man-made mischief, can the humble book survive the new machine age?

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781805221180

Publisher: Profile Books Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 23 April 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Profile Books Ltd

Edition: Main

Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 32.0mm

Width: 140.0mm

Height: 220.0mm

Weight: 409g

Pages: 304

Collections

Education & Reference History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction Philosophy & Psychology Rebecca Lee

About the Author

Rebecca Lee is a senior editorial manager at Penguin Random House. She's spent twenty years wrangling hundreds of books from copyedit to finished copies, and among the millions of words she's sent to print, she's overseen her fair share of mishaps. She is author of the 'masterpiece' (Daily Mail) How Words Get Good.

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