{"product_id":"the-riddles-of-the-sphinx-inheriting-the-feminist-history-of-the-crossword-puzzle-isbn-9780063275478","title":"The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A surprising and ambitious investigation of language and the varied ways women resist the paradoxes of patriarchy both on and off the page.\"—\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCombining the soul-baring confessional of \u003ci\u003eBrain on Fire\u003c\/i\u003e and the addictive storytelling of \u003ci\u003eThe Queen’s Gambit\u003c\/i\u003e, a renowned puzzle creator’s compulsively readable memoir about anorexia and language, and history of the crossword puzzle as an unexpected site of women’s work and feminist protest.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe indisputable “queen of crosswords,” Anna Shechtman published her first \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e puzzle at age nineteen, and later, helped to spearhead the \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e’s popular crossword section. Working with a medium often criticized as exclusionary, elitist, and out-of-touch, Anna is one of very few women in the field of puzzle making, where she strives to make the everyday diversion more diverse.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this fascinating work of literary nonfiction—part memoir, part cultural analysis—she excavates the hidden history of the crossword and the overlooked women who have been central to its creation and evolution, from the “Crossword Craze” of the 1920s to the role of digital technology today. As she tells the story of her own experience in the CrossWorld, she analyzes the roles assigned to women in American culture, the boxes they’ve been allowed to fill, and the ways that they’ve used puzzles to negotiate the constraints and play of desire under patriarchy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe result is an unforgettable and engrossing work of art, a loving and revealing homage to one of our most treasured, entertaining, and ultimately political pastimes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Riddles of the Sphinx\u003c\/i\u003e untangles the knot of language, power, and identity to reveal:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eCrossword Puzzle History:\u003c\/b\u003e The overlooked women who shaped the American crossword, from the 1920s ‘Crossword Craze’ to the digital age, and have been central to its creation and evolution.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ePsychoanalysis and Language:\u003c\/b\u003e A sharp exploration of the surprising connections between anorexia, Freudian analysis, and the relentless act of tearing language apart and piecing it back together.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eFeminist Protest:\u003c\/b\u003e How women have used word games and puzzles as an unexpected site of resistance against the constraints and paradoxes of patriarchy.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eMemoir and Cultural History:\u003c\/b\u003e A deeply personal journey into the CrossWorld, where the author’s own story becomes a lens to analyze the roles assigned to women in American culture.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"At once meticulously researched and beautifully written, \u003cem\u003eThe Riddles of the Sphinx\u003c\/em\u003e unravels the disordered logics of those who live with anorexia and the pathologies of a society that help shape body dysmorphia in so many. Shechtman, a celebrated crossword constructor, traces the fascinating intersections between her personal history and that of the women who helped create—and sustain—the crossword puzzle craze. The result\u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003eis a propulsive, necessary, and ultimately hopeful exploration—one that urgently speaks to our capacity to solve puzzles that go far beyond those on the page.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMeghan O'Rourke, author of The Invisible Kingdom\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"An absorbing book debut. . . . A forthright self-portrait and perceptive cultural critique.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A rigorous yet fleet-footed exploration of the crossword puzzle’s feminist legacy. . . .Throughout, Shechtman investigates how gender, race, and politics affect crosswords. . . . By turns incisive and roving, this teases out hidden connections and forgotten histories that will enthrall readers.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe Riddles of the Sphinx\u003c\/em\u003e is the best writing on crossword puzzles that I've ever read. So treat yourself. Go get it.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRex Parker, Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The book is also itself a kind of crossword, bringing together worlds that might not otherwise exist in the same place at the same time. . . . Shechtman is delightful when sly...she has a preternatural gift for perceiving perfectly placed pieces of language.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAdrienne Raphel, Los Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Part history, part memoir, part feminist reconsideration, it offers a sweeping overview of the American crossword puzzle over the last century, told primarily through the stories of four pioneering women who were integral to its evolution....\u003cem\u003eThe Riddles of the Sphinx\u003c\/em\u003e poses questions—What kinds of intellectual work is considered worthy of our attention? What boxes have women historically been permitted to fill?—only to consistently invert and twist them. What emerges is a surprising and ambitious investigation of language and the varied ways women resist the paradoxes of patriarchy both on and off the page.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"As a gripping study sprinkled with puns and puzzles, this book encompasses the reasoning behind Shechtman’s own search for meaning while describing the constraints and histories of women who changed the narrative about wordplay. The book also soundly cracks the code for feminists puzzling over how wordplay fits into gender politics.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Meticulously researched. . . . \u003cem\u003eThe Riddles of the Sphinx\u003c\/em\u003e is an accomplishment in journalism and storytelling, allowing readers to understand how crosswords are not just black-and-white squares on a page but reminders that women, properly recognized or not, have always written history (and crossword) books.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A book too mischievously multiform to classify…witty and rewarding…a witty and crisp stylist . . . Shechtman is a constructor in the best sense of the word. . . . Her puzzles are designed to teach us. Her book, at once a celebration and demonstration of the riotousness of words, does the same.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe Riddles of the Sphinx\u003c\/em\u003e is one of the best books of 2024, hands down, and I can’t wait for everyone else—puzzlers and laymen alike—to fall in love with it too.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSophia Stewart, The Millions\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe Riddles of the Sphinx\u003c\/em\u003e resembles the best themed crosswords: paradoxical puzzles that are simultaneously rigid and relational, entertaining and educational.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBookPage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A history of the crossword that is also a memoir of one woman’s dangerous attempt to solve the puzzle of her own body, \u003cem\u003eThe Riddles of the Sphinx \u003c\/em\u003etakes the reader from the Algonquin Round Table to smoke-filled Parisian lecture halls, lesbian separatist marches, a contemporary crossword tournament, and an eating disorder treatment center in Paradise, Utah. Writing with intelligence, clarity, and unexpected humor, Anna Shechtman deftly weaves together the neglected histories of the women who made and make the crossword, raising urgent and fascinating questions about the politics of wordplay and the dilemma of living in language.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristine Smallwood, author of The Life of the Mind\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"As a memoir of the female body, \u003cem\u003eThe Riddles of the Sphinx\u003c\/em\u003e is, by turns, intensely cerebral and sensual. As a history of wordplay, it is rigorous yet delightful. As a work of nonfiction, it is accomplished, hypnotic, and, at moments, tremendously unsettling. In revealing how femininity can turn into a monstrous ideal, Shechtman stages a serious reckoning with not just her past, but with the whole history of feminist thought.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMerve Emre, author of The Personality Brokers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperOne","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44890588414181,"sku":"NP9780063275478","price":29.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063275478.jpg?v=1730233641","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-riddles-of-the-sphinx-inheriting-the-feminist-history-of-the-crossword-puzzle-isbn-9780063275478","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}