Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve: What the Numbers Reveal about the Classics, Bestsellers, and Our Own Writing

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In Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve, statistician and journalist Ben Blatt brings big data to literature, uncovering the hoard of fun findings still hidden in the works of the world's greatest writers. What is your favorite author's favorite word? Which mega-bestseller uses the most cliches? Do novels written by men and women differ, even down to the characters they write and the words they choose? Can we pinpoint an author from their style alone, even if they're trying to hide? And which famous writing advice is worth following, by the numbers? From a database of thousands of books and hundreds of millions of words, Blatt answers questions large and small that have captivated curious word nerds and book lovers for generations. The results are by turns playful and mind-blowing, and endlessly enjoyable. -- Back cover