Greek to Me is a charming account of Norris’s lifelong love affair with words and her solo adventures in the land of olive trees and ouzo. Along the way, Norris explains how the alphabet originated in Greece, makes the case for Athena as a feminist icon, goes searching for the fabled Baths of Aphrodite, and reveals the surprising ways Greek helped form the English language. Filled with Norris’s memorable encounters with Greek words, Greek gods, Greek wine – and more than a few Greek men – Greek to Me is the Comma Queen’s fresh take on Greece and the exotic yet strangely familiar language that so deeply influences our own.

DIVE DEEPER:

Articles

• “Mary Norris” — The New Yorker
• “If Only It Were All Greek: A Reading List from Mary Norris” — lithub.com

Reviews

• “A Passion for Punctuation Meets a Love for All Things Greek” — The New York Times
• “Greek to Me by Mary Norris review – ‘WTF, Socrates?’” — The Guardian
• “TEXT” — NPR.org

Videos

• “The Nit-Picking Glory of The New Yorker’s Comma Queen” — TED Talks
• “What We Talk About When We Talk About Commas | Comma Queen” — The New Yorker YouTube Channel