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Fiction
Duet
My fifth novel, now available as an e-book
Five Questions
My "lost" 2001 novel, now available for Kindle and other readers
Solos
Berkley/Penguin, trade paper, 2004
Souvenir of Cold Springs
Counterpoint Press, 2001; trade paper, Berkley Books, 2003
Nonfiction
my new novel - available from Amazon (see link, below)
The Sleep Specialist
Raven's Eye Publishing, 2007
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Getty-Dubay Italic HandwritingA link to the handwriting program that I recommend -- highly! -- in Script and Scribble. Beautiful script, and not difficult to learn.
www.writealetter.orgMy friend and neighbor, Carol Christmas, is a letter carrier and a passionate advocate of letter-writing and penmanship. Here's her wonderful website and blog.
Savage DesignThe metalworking/silversmithing website of my husband, Ron Savage. A longtime artist and craftsman, Ron is now making jewelry, soon to be available at various outlets and online. In the spirit of Script and Scribble, he is also making letter openers. Stay tuned for photos and more information.
Patricia GrossmanA link to the site of Patty Grossman, whose new novel, RADIANT DAUGHTER, is so good I had to give it a blurb. I mean everything I said, and more. A great read!
Jane SchwartzA link to the website of Jane Schwartz, author of the wonderful book RUFFIAN: BURNING FROM THE START. Anyone who likes horse-racing, or just good, gripping, heart-rending, inspiring, beautifully written works of non-fiction, will love this book.
Better LettersA terrific Italic handwriting iPhone application designed by Kate along with a physician who is concerned about illegibility in the medical profession
Diagramming SentencesThis is the website of Gene Moutoux, the diagramming guru who created all the really tough diagrams in SISTER BERNADETTE'S BARKING DOG. If you have an interest in diagramming, Gene's books are the logical next step.
Please email me here. Don't hesitate to get in touch with questions, comments, criticism, sarcasm, jokes, screams of anguish, or just to say hello. It's been great to hear from old friends who have found this site! |
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Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting
In the digital age, do we still need legible handwriting? If so, how is that being taught in schools today? If not, what are we replacing it with? What happened to the Palmer Method of my own childhood, drilled into us by Sister Victorine in third grade? Who was Palmer, anyway, and how does he fit into the history of handwriting? Who invented the printing we learned in first grade? What happened to fountain pens? How did my once-artistic script degenerate into scrawls and scribbles? And should I do something about it?
Determined to find out the answers to these questions, I began a year-long journey into the wonders of handwriting, from the Phoenicians to the Bic -- and beyond. I was thrilled to discover a whole new world – of medieval monks toiling in their scriptoria, of the script Shakespeare wrote, of Dickens and his quill, of the far-from-dead art of Spencerian flourishes, of typewriter fanatics and pencil collectors. Perhaps best of all was what happened to my own handwriting in the course of my researches. And, by the time I was done, I found out that the position of handwriting in today's world isn't quite what I expected!
This new book is in the tradition of Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog: part history, part memoir, and part examination of a fascinating – and surprisingly crucial – 21st-century controversy.
Script and Scribble really touched a nerve! The book prompted more than 50 interviews on everything from Air America (The Lionel Show) and NPR's Weekend Edition (with Liane Hansen) to radio stations in Wales, Ireland, England, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. (See above for an NPR one from Boston.) The book has been widely reviewed, both in print and on air. Cullen Murphy in the Wall Street Journal called it "a witty and readable (and fetchingly illustrated and glossed) excursion [that] covers a lot of ground," and Michael Dirda in the (now sadly defunct) Washington Post Book World wrote, "Because [Florey] is witty and endearingly autobiographical (she includes illustrations from her third-grade writing workbook) the reader is happy to follow her into any byway of penmanship." New York magazine's reviewer said, "Certain vestigial urges have been awakened, deep in the muscles of my fingers and wrists, by Script and Scribble....Florey, a nun-educated 'scriptomaniac,' lovingly traces the history of handwriting [and] rounds up some fascinating arcana." Albert Mobilio in Bookforum said, "Florey makes a solid case for handwriting as a social indicator, and her affection for its art is thoughtful and aesthetically informed." For Maud Newton, in NPR's online Books We Like column, "Script and Scribble is "an unusual, compelling blend of retrospective, lamentation and advocacy." The Financial Times called it "a charming, illustrated eulogy." I've had a lot of fun writing and promoting this book and have met a lot of great people (and seen a lot of amazing handwriting). Thanks to all!
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Note: I was pleased that, in the movie DOUBT, not only was there an accurate sentence diagram on the blackboard in one scene, but Meryl Streep in her role as Sister Aloysius came out against ballpoint pens (see SCRIPT AND SCRIBBLE, p. 17) and uttered the immortal line "Penmanship is dying across the country." So true, Sister....
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"What in God's name has happened to penmanship? What used to be a craft at which everyone was proficient has degenerated to a little-used arsenal of nearly illegible scrawls and chicken-scratches. It's easy to blame the computer, but, as Kitty Burns Florey demonstrates in her thoughtful, witty and sensible book, the story goes far deeper than that. It touches on the way we think, the way we write, and the way we lead our lives. Read Script & Scribble and be enlightened."
-- Ben Yagoda, author of If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It!
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WELCOME TO MY WEBSITE!
A SURPRISE BEST-SELLER!
Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog
"Best Book of 2006!" -- Slate magazine (Julia Turner, Senior Editor): "Florey writes with verve about the nuns who taught her to render the English language as a mess of slanted lines, explains how diagrams work, and traces the bizarre history of the men who invented this odd pedagogical tool. And unlike so many of today's microhistorians, who seek to demonstrate how zippers, azaleas, or hopscotch explain the world, Florey is refreshingly content to recount her tale without any suggestion that the diagramming of sentences somehow illuminates the American character. It's a great read."
From People magazine: "This gem from copy editor Florey is a bracing ode to grammar; it's laced with a survivor's nostalgia for classrooms ruled by knuckle-cracking nuns who knew their participles."
ALSO AVAILABLE NOW...
A new novel, The Sleep Specialist, published by Raven's Eye -- a small (really small) press based in my study in Connecticut. Available from Amazon and also directly from Lulu.com. Please see the links in the left-hand column on this page.
I'm publishing this book myself via Lulu.com, as an experiment. If you click on the title on the MY BOOKS page, you'll find more information about it -- and under LINKS (right-hand column on this page) you will be able to buy a copy from Lulu directly. (It's also available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.) It's an unusual story, but -- trust me -- a really good read. Reactions from readers have been enthusiastic ("couldn't put it down," "stayed up all night," "evokes the period wonderfully," etc.), and I hope you'll like it, too.
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