The African Svelte: Ingenious Misspellings That Make Surprising Sense

"A clever book... Leavened by famously jittery drawings from Roz Chast, The African Svelte cleverly educes the 'literally poetic justice' of 'eeking out a living' or disguising your terrorist intent by 'wearing a baklava.'" —The Washington Post "The African Svelte is a whole new comedy of errors. I like to split my bridges." —Roy Blount, Jr., author of Save Room for Pie and many others "Haul out the chaise lounge. Daniel Menaker has defied the spell checker tenaciously and redeemed the misspelled word with playful acuity. The department of corrections will never be the same. Paddy O’Furniture forever." —Mary Norris, author of Between You and Me "Call them eggcorns, malaprops, or ‘sveltes’— for Daniel Menaker, those happy accidents are the occasions for witty excursions down linguistic roads not taken. He had me from the gecko." —Geoff Nunberg, author of Going Nucular and language commentator, NPR "Fresh Air" "I've made a lot of missteaks, but none of them have been as smart or as funny as the ones in this book." —Patricia Marx, author of Let's Be Less Stupid "For language lovers, this book, with all its verbal tangles and wit, is sure to, in its own words, “pass mustard.” —Poets & Writers

"The African Svelte is a whole new comedy of errors. I like to split my bridges." —Roy Blount, Jr., author of Save Room for Pie and many others "Haul out the chaise lounge. Daniel Menaker has defied the spell checker tenaciously and redeemed the misspelled word with playful acuity. The department of corrections will never be the same. Paddy O’Furniture forever." —Mary Norris, author of Between You and Me "Call them eggcorns, malaprops, or ‘sveltes’— for Daniel Menaker, those happy accidents are the occasions for witty excursions down linguistic roads not taken. He had me from the gecko." —Geoff Nunberg, author of Going Nucular and language commentator, NPR "Fresh Air" "I've made a lot of missteaks, but none of them have been as smart or as funny as the ones in this book." —Patricia Marx, author of Let's Be Less Stupid

"The African Svelte is a whole new comedy of errors. I like to split my bridges." —Roy Blount, Jr., author of Save Room for Pie and many others "Haul out the chaise lounge. Daniel Menaker has defied the spell checker tenaciously and redeemed the misspelled word with playful acuity. The department of corrections will never be the same. Paddy O’Furniture forever." —Mary Norris, author of Between You and Me "Call them eggcorns, malaprops, or ‘sveltes’— for Daniel Menaker, those happy accidents are the occasions for witty excursions down linguistic roads not taken. He had me from the gecko." —Geoff Nunberg, author of Going Nucular and language commentator, NPR "Fresh Air" "I've made a lot of missteaks, but none of them have been as smart or as funny as the ones in this book." —Patricia Marx, author of Let's Be Less Stupid "For language lovers, this book, with all its verbal tangles and wit, is sure to, in its own words, “pass mustard.” —Poets & Writers

"A clever book... Leavened by famously jittery drawings from Roz Chast, The African Svelte cleverly educes the 'literally poetic justice' of 'eeking out a living' or disguising your terrorist intent by 'wearing a baklava.'" —The Washington Post "For language lovers, this book, with all its verbal tangles and wit, is sure to, in its own words, “pass mustard.” —Poets & Writers "The African Svelte is a whole new comedy of errors. I like to split my bridges." —Roy Blount, Jr., author of Save Room for Pie and many others "Haul out the chaise lounge. Daniel Menaker has defied the spell checker tenaciously and redeemed the misspelled word with playful acuity. The department of corrections will never be the same. Paddy O’Furniture forever." —Mary Norris, author of Between You and Me "Call them eggcorns, malaprops, or ‘sveltes’— for Daniel Menaker, those happy accidents are the occasions for witty excursions down linguistic roads not taken. He had me from the gecko." —Geoff Nunberg, author of Going Nucular and language commentator, NPR "Fresh Air" "I've made a lot of missteaks, but none of them have been as smart or as funny as the ones in this book." —Patricia Marx, author of Let's Be Less Stupid

Praise for My Mistake: “Tender, smart and witty, this book is truly unputdownable.”—Real Simple "Ruefully funny.”—Vogue.com "A  warm, humorous, on-point memoir. Amiably self-deprecating, Menaker is a deft sketch artist, vividly portraying loved ones and colleagues (his portraits of New Yorker staff are hilarious, barbed, and tender). Eye-opening and entertaining."—Booklist

"Charming. [He] is at his best when irreverent: chuckling at aptronyms (people aptly named), or deflating New Yorker legends (William Shawn and Tina Brown, most notably). Menaker leaves the reader with a sense of the vast triumph that is a life well lived." —Publishers Weekly

"A funny and thoughtful memoir of wrong turns, both in and out of publishing. . . Menaker doesn’t just recount experiences; he digs away at them with wit and astute reflection, looking for the pattern of a life that defies easy profit-and-loss lessons."—Kirkus, starred review "A wild ride [with] one of the scene’s principal participants and sharpest observers."—Bookpage "My Mistake is a memoir of editor Daniel Menaker's life and long career. Set in the world of literary New York, it is undeniably insider-y and gossipy. (The stories about Tina Brown are not to be missed.)"—NPR.com

"How can something written so accurately be so witty? Don't you have to cheat a bit to wring the humor out of life? Daniel Menaker has constructed a compelling tale that irises down to a powerful and emotional climax and is delivered in exacting prose woven into affecting poetry."—Steve Martin "My Mistake is only sometimes rueful. It is also frequently funny and splendidly precise as it takes a look back at a life led in the world of magazine editing and book publishing, a behind-the-scenes rumination of a time gone by. Intriguing now, it will be necessary later; readers will be thankful for this quirky and delightful piece of history."—Elizabeth Strout "Daniel Menaker's distinctive journey through his own memories is impossible to resist—and not just for those of us with an appetite for literary anecdote. My Mistake is also the story of literary New York, with keen, vivid impressions from Menaker's Forties childhood, Cold War coming-of-age, and long career at the epicenter of the publishing industry during the onslaught of the Digital Age."—Jennifer Egan "Menaker's stories of life as fiction editor at The New Yorker and Random House are a delight, the way he tells them simply perfect. Humorous, thoughtful, heartbreaking and brave. I have not enjoyed a memoir more."—Julie Klam

"The African Svelte is a whole new comedy of errors. I like to split my bridges."—Roy Blount, Jr., author of Save Room for Pie and many others "Haul out the chaise lounge. Daniel Menaker has defied the spell checker tenaciously and redeemed the misspelled word with playful acuity. The department of corrections will never be the same. Paddy O’Furniture forever."—Mary Norris, author of Between You and Me