Why Not Catch-21?: The Stories Behind the Titles

One of Dexter's criterion is "the title should not be explicable by reading the text of the book itself." Thus, the meaning of or reference to the titles he explains could not be derived, divined, nor inferred by reading and comprehending the book. Among the fifty titles meeting this criterion plus three others are Gargantua and Pantagruel, The Duchess of Malfi, Sonnets from the Portuguese, The Kreutzer Sonata, Nineteen Eighty-Four, and A Clockwork Orange. The titles span all eras, as far back as Plato's Republic from 380B.C., to the 1990s. All genres are included, though titles to single poems have been eliminated. And--another of Dexter's criterion--titles cannot have be taken from quotes. The book is entertaining for any reader and especially for ones in the book trade such as writers and publishers, instructive. Despite its catchy title and content from a newspaper (from the author's column in London's Sunday Telegram), Dexter is often discursive and analytical. The bibliography containing many scholarly or literary articles and books of literary criticism is more than six pages. He doesn't simply give the basis or source of a title, as if answering a riddle or giving a quiz-show type answer. He relates the research he did. He does so partly to authoritate how a particular title came about; and partly to support his educated guesswork on how a title came about when there is no conclusive evidence such as the book's author's explanation. Readers will enjoy the interesting, little-known background on classics and popular books Dexter has dredged up.

Dexter's aim in this book is to explain where some inexplicable titles (limited to books and plays; while collections of poetry are included, no individual poems are listed) come from-what does "Godot" have to do with anything, why on earth is Plato's "Republic" so named even though Plato didn't like the idea of our modern republics, etc. He also dispells many myths about book titles, like the ones about 1984 being in reference to 1948, or a Clockwork Orange coming from a Cockney saying. The book is often exciting, hillarious, and is quite a page turner. Dexter includes plot summaries frequently, which is excellent because I hadn't heard of about half of the books include (and I am fairly well-read). But he also alludes to stories about the author, characters, or people in the authors lives that he assumes are generally known and glosses over the backstory. Really, that's the only flaw in the book. The author looks at how literature has been named, what influenced the authors, and, when there is no clear explanation, describes the theories and dispells other. Recommended for anyone with a love of literature.

I read this book in the space of an afternoon. Some of his book choices were odd - but most were familiar. All were interesting.

A fascinating book, I got it for my birthday and the elderly aunt got it right for once! I ploughed through it in one go and now I'm off to re-read the novels it's reminded me about! And, erm, the words are normal size... It's bizarre that anyone even had a problem with it.

An absolutely delightful book. Dexter has researched his material meticulously while at the same time being bold enough to draw his own conclusions. A perfect Christmas present for book lovers.