Rating: 
Summary: One Note
Review: This is one of the best books that I have read recently. The premise is so unique and the story is hilarious. Another reviewer mentioned that the characters were flat. I noticied the same thing, but I think that was intentional. Like the subtitle says, this book is a fable and the characters - like the story - are not realistic. Ella Minnow Pea is most certainly a satire, but it feels more like a bedtime story for grown-ups. It is a funny book with a moral and a lot of wit. Even though it address the dangers censorship and totalitarian government, you just can't help but to feel happy when you read Ella Minnow Pea.
Rating: 
Summary: A Sweet Satire
Review: This is one of the best books that I have read recently. The premise is so unique and the story is hilarious. Another reviewer mentioned that the characters were flat. I noticied the same thing, but I think that was intentional. Like the subtitle says, this book is a fable and the characters - like the story - are not realistic. Ella Minnow Pea is most certainly a satire, but it feels more like a bedtime story for grown-ups. It is a funny book with a moral and a lot of wit. Even though it address the dangers censorship and totalitarian government, you just can't help but to feel happy when you read Ella Minnow Pea.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: This is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. A book about language, about communication, about human society, about the lust for power and the power of organized stupidity, about the alphabet, about theology, and about the liberation of the human spirit. I read it in two days and loved every word, no, every letter. The outline of the story has been given by other reviewers. But the cleverness, the brilliance, the creativity of the author cannot be described. Buy this book, and read it, now!
Rating:
Summary: LMNOP
Review: This is one of the most refreshing books I've read in a long time. With every tile that fell, I found myself scouring the missives, trying to catch the writers using the forbidden symbols. It is, as they would say in the New World Nollop, a great example of a cautionary tail.
Rating:
Summary: Truly a master of the art of writing....
Review: This is what happens when a master wordsmith looks to educate his audience on how important language is. Ella Minnow Pea is a political and social satire, which looks at what happens when an extremely intelligent society looses the most important part of their lives - their ability to communicate. On the tiny island of Nollop, events unfold that lead the leaders of the community to make a drastic and somewhat...well...crazy decision. The impact of this decision is cataclysmic for the residents of the land. The events that transpire really show just how important language is in everything we do. The prose, the writing style, the plot-all tie together to make an amazing story, one that can be lovingly read over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: Quite Complex Jargon By Vis Of Whiz Kid
Review: Through Mark Dunn's expert mastery of the English language, he not only has created an entertaining novel, but one which is very humorous, spellbinding, and quirky. It seems there is a shortage of new authors with creative minds and unique literary ideas. Mr. Dunn's first novel is a true breath of fresh air. I can't wait for his follow-up work!
Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly clever !!!!
Review: What a clever and unique book this was! It was a fable, a parable, a lovely story of what language means to us and what happens when it gradually disappears. Written entirely in the form of letters, this book became more complex as letters disappeared from the Nollopians' vocabulary.
After the letters begin to fall off the statue dedicated to Nevin Nollop, who thought up the pangram "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog", the island of Nollop, located off the coast of South Carolina, is never to be the same. As each letter falls, the Council, sure that it is a sign from the beyond, decrees that that letter may no longer be used in speech or writing. The first major catastrophe as a result of this ruling is that the libraries must close since all books contain all 26 letters, including the forbidden one. Initially, the inhabitants are not unduly alarmed, even though they pride themselves on their love and use of language. Indeed, the high-level vocabulary in this book sent me to the dictionary many times. However, the citizens soon become suspicious of each other and begin turning each other in to be punished for using a banned letter. The cleverness of this author is most apparent when he improvises words for those that contain a forbidden letter..... as when he re-names the days of the week when the letter D falls. The word God can no longer be used so instead, God becomes "our omnipresence". Yesterday becomes "yesters". Later, the man behind the fish counter is referred to as a "piscimonger", a knight is a "horseman-gallant", and a university is a "university". Here is an incredibly clever paragraph, written after many letters have fallen and thus been forbidden for use: "This is to inphorm ewe opf statoot 28-63 past this mornig with implormet phrom high elter R.Lyttle. Hensephorth, sitisens may, in graphy only, espress themselphs threw yoose oph proxy letters, yet only as hear-twins." This was an amusing and appealing book, fun to read and to think about afterward. By the way, Ella Minnow Pea (LMNOP) is the name of one of the main characters....and LMNOP are also the last five letters left when Ella saves the day!
Rating:
Summary: Clever! Wonderful!
Review: What a refreshing experience to read Mark Dunn's first book. Having never heard of the playwright/author, this little treasure caught my eye in the bookstore only because I have a cat named Ella! And I'm glad it did! I found this book to be rich with humor, language and inspiration. As many things do these days, the subject matter causes me to reflect upon the importance of appreciating our previously conceived to be God given rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom to think and for that matter, the freedom to exist as we do. I will certainly tell everyone I know about this book, which will make a fitting holiday gift as well. LONG LIVE FREEDOM!
Rating:
Summary: A welcome new voice
Review: What would you do if certain letters of the alphabet were illegal and use of them could be punishable by death? Maybe you would try to write a review like this one. I hereby declare : I will not use an R or an I from here on. (with one exception) The tale takes place on Nollop, a made-up atoll. Nollop happens to be named that way because the atoll was founded by a man named Nollop, the man who thought up the sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." As the tale goes on, added elements of the alphabet fall off of the statue of Nollop. As each element of the alphabet falls off the statue, the heads of Nollop state that those elements of the alphabet cannot be used/spoken. As you can guess, bad events take place. Okay, I give up. That's too hard. But it is exactly what Mr. Dunn does throughout the entire book to wonderful effect. As the book nears the end, almost all the letters have fallen off and the remaining islanders (most have fled) must devise a panagram (sentence using all 26 letters) in less letters than Mr. Nollop used in his. This book is great for people who love words and letters. It is also an interesting study of oppression.
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