dgw reviewed Script and scribble by Kitty Burns Florey
Review of 'Script and scribble' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
If only I could remember the path that led me to this book. To someone, somewhere, I owe a debt of gratitude for the initial mention that placed Script & Scribble on my radar. Perhaps it was mentioned in a Goodreads newsletter, or on a blog; I can't remember.
Having read Script & Scribble, I am now perhaps even more irked by my poor handwriting skills—the very cocography that drove me to learn how to type at a respectable 80–90 WPM. I also have a much better understanding of just why I learned to print before learning to write cursive, and just how handwriting has changed over the years.
(As a side-effect, I gained a revulsion for Blackletter: a script so unreadable it brings to mind the squiggles of Peanuts characters—only it's supposed to be "real" writing, not the pretending of comic strip characters.)
Calligraphy was a brief part …
If only I could remember the path that led me to this book. To someone, somewhere, I owe a debt of gratitude for the initial mention that placed Script & Scribble on my radar. Perhaps it was mentioned in a Goodreads newsletter, or on a blog; I can't remember.
Having read Script & Scribble, I am now perhaps even more irked by my poor handwriting skills—the very cocography that drove me to learn how to type at a respectable 80–90 WPM. I also have a much better understanding of just why I learned to print before learning to write cursive, and just how handwriting has changed over the years.
(As a side-effect, I gained a revulsion for Blackletter: a script so unreadable it brings to mind the squiggles of Peanuts characters—only it's supposed to be "real" writing, not the pretending of comic strip characters.)
Calligraphy was a brief part of my elementary schooling, and I've a sudden urge to dig out the fountain pen I have from those days. Not that my Uncial was ever that good—but maybe if I practice…
On top it all, Florey makes reference to many other books works that will most likely end up on my to-read shelf. When reading a book makes my to-read list longer, and not shorter, I consider it a tribute to the author—even if it means I edge that much closer to having a list that I will never finish.
The only thing I have to complain about is Chapter One, and not because of the content. I would like to have a talk with the publisher about the layout of that first chapter. Figures overlap the text, sidenote references in the text fail to match the number of the note beside them, and sometimes the text breaks in strange places to leave whitespace in odd arrangements. There's also a use of the word "happly" on page 53 that, well, just made me laugh after a double-take.
Aside from those few oddities, the book is flowingly written, beautifully laid-out, humorous, and witty. I look forward to reading Florey's best-selling [b:Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog|31049|Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences|Kitty Burns Florey|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168197838s/31049.jpg|2238416].