{ "item_title" : "The Riddles of the Sphinx", "item_author" : [" Anna Shechtman "], "item_description" : "A surprising and ambitious investigation of language and the varied ways women resist the paradoxes of patriarchy both on and off the page.--New York TimesCombining the soul-baring confessional of Brain on Fire and the addictive storytelling of The Queen's Gambit, 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.The indisputable queen of crosswords, Anna Shechtman published her first New York Times puzzle at age nineteen, and later, helped to spearhead the The New Yorker'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.In 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.The 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.The Riddles of the Sphinx untangles the knot of language, power, and identity to reveal: Crossword Puzzle History: 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.Psychoanalysis and Language: A sharp exploration of the surprising connections between anorexia, Freudian analysis, and the relentless act of tearing language apart and piecing it back together.Feminist Protest: How women have used word games and puzzles as an unexpected site of resistance against the constraints and paradoxes of patriarchy.Memoir and Cultural History: 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.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers3.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/06/327/547/0063275473_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "29.99", "online_price" : "29.99", "our_price" : "29.99", "club_price" : "29.99", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "29.99" } }

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It is difficult to categorize Anna Shechtman’s The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle. In the book, Shechtman, a celebrated feminist and crossword constructor for The New Yorker, recounts her years with anorexia and her recovery. She details the history of the crossword puzzle, in particular the role women played not only in popularizing crossword puzzles, but also in developing them. Shechtman explains and explores how academic feminists create a new vocabulary for women that is free of gender stereotypes. Finally, she argues eloquently that the definition of “crossword-worthy clues” should be more diverse, allowing for a broader range of clues that a general audience stands a chance at solving. But it’s not purely a memoir, history, scholarly tract or manifesto. Instead, The Riddles of the Sphinx resembles the best themed crosswords: paradoxical puzzles that are simultaneously rigid and relational, entertaining and educational. Themed crosswords explore the relationship between highlighted clues, and can reveal surprising links between them. Shechtman’s book is similarly well-crafted and tightly structured. There are four themes, much like the traditional crossword has four quadrants: the links between the strict rules of crosswords and anorexia; the role of wordplay in developing a feminist language; the outsize role of white men in puzzle construction; and, finally, the crossword as the emblem of Shechtman’s development as a patient, an intellectual and a social being. The last of these gives the work its power and humanity. When her anorexia was at its worst, Shechtman constructed puzzles. Their rules reflected and affirmed the rigidity imposed on her by her illness, but also isolated her from others and herself. Shechtman’s healing only began when she was able to form relationships with other women in treatment. It is these relationships that bring healing, meaning and relevance—not only to the puzzle, but to our lives.