Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen

Review
"A rapturous memoir of falling in love with a language."
― Rory Tolan, Washington Post
"Norris is an uncommonly engaging, witty enthusiast with a nose for delicious details."
― Heller McAlpin, NPR
"What a fantastic book! Not only is Greek to Me educational, entertaining, and gorgeously written, it shows us how intellectual curiosity coupled with a dash of bravery can pave the way for a more meaningful life."
― Ann Patchett
"Norris’ vibrant prose flies off the page.… She brings it all together with insight and wisdom."
― Elfrieda Abbe, Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Charming, ribald, highly informed, and always funny.… An adventure tale for intellectuals―and also for the rest of us."
― Steve Martin
"[Mary] Norris… whose first book chronicled her passion for punctuation, here recounts, with the same contagious wit and enthusiasm, her obsession with Greece―its language, history and culture."
― New York Times Book Review
"Beach reading for classicists and philhellenes… but with something more serious at stake."
― A. E. Stallings, Wall Street Journal
"Norris is a jaunty companion, splendidly bookish, full of excellent little facts."
― Charlotte Higgins, Guardian
"Norris has a remarkable gift for conveying and transmitting passion."
― Imogen Russell Williams, Times Literary Supplement
"Delightful."
― Bethanne Patrick, Washington Post
"Greek to Me bursts with a cheerful lust for all things Hellenic: the language, ancient and modern; the mythology; the wine; the sunshine; the sea; and, occasionally, the men."
― Susan Storer Clark, Washington Independent Review of Books
“One of the most satisfying accounts of a great passion that I have ever read.” ―Vivian Gornick, New York Times Book Review
Mary Norris, The New Yorker’s Comma Queen and best-selling author of Between You & Me, has had a lifelong love affair with words. In Greek to Me, she delivers a delightful paean to the art of self-expression through accounts of her solo adventures in the land of olive trees and ouzo. Along the way, Norris explains how the alphabet originated in Greece, makes the case for Athena as a feminist icon, and reveals the surprising ways in which Greek helped form English. Greek to Me is filled with Norris’s memorable encounters with Greek words, Greek gods, Greek wine―and more than a few Greek men.