5 h 54 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What can a town achieve when it trusts its young—and a novelist achieve when he gives up the letter E?
Branton Hills is growing fast, but John Gadsby needs a purpose. His wife, Ruth, encourages him to find work that restores his strength. He turns to the town’s young people, whose energy and talent suggest a hopeful answer: give them real responsibility and see what they can do.
As Gadsby gathers the young people into an organized group, older citizens question his trust. Can shared work win over the doubters? Ernest Vincent Wright tells this warm story of community under an extraordinary rule: the letter E never appears. Its absence shapes every sentence, giving familiar ideas unexpected turns of phrase.
What you’ll discover
- A purpose worth finding Follow John Gadsby as he seeks useful work through faith in the town’s young people.
- Youth with real responsibility Meet energetic youngsters who want more than encouragement: they want a chance to contribute.
- A town learning trust Watch shared effort face the doubts of older citizens wary of giving youth responsibility.
- One letter left out Explore a lipogram whose strict rule invites you to notice each unusual turn of phrase.
- Warmth beyond the wordplay Find a hopeful tale of friendship and work beneath the novel’s striking verbal challenge.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like warm, funny small-town stories, word games and writing feats, or ideas about raising and trusting children. Teachers, parents and anyone who loves a community project will find plenty to enjoy.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A sleepy town needs a champion for its young
- Give young people real work and they deliver
- Parks, a library and a band change the town
- Praise the young and they grow bolder
- Kindness reaches those who cannot ask
- Good works win office and build a hospital
- Children's wild ideas become city landmarks
- A family's joys sit beside the public story
- Youth knows what grown people forget
Who’s who
- John GadsbyA kind, honest man of around fifty who believes in young people and leads the town to improve itself, later as its mayor.
- Lady GadsbyGadsby's wife, a churchwoman and club organizer who stands behind him and runs the family home.
- Nancy GadsbyThe tiny, cheerful older daughter, loved by the whole town, who falls in love with Frank Morgan.
- Kathlyn GadsbyThe studious daughter who loves biology and helps build the Hall of Natural History.
- Old Bill SimpkinsA stingy, grumbling councilman who fights each new spending plan for the town.
- Lady StandishA rich, animal-loving woman who gives money to the zoo and buys the old fire horses.
- Frank MorganA loyal boy of the Organization who becomes radio station manager and courts Nancy.
- Lucy DonaldsonA lively girl who thinks up the zoo and speaks up for it.
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- Paperback
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
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Gadsby
by Ernest Vincent Wright · 1939
A man in Branton Hills turns a sleepy town into a city by putting its young people in charge.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Can a whole novel be written without the letter E? Ernest Vincent Wright takes up the challenge in Gadsby, a story about a sleepy town called Branton Hills and the man who wakes it up.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A sleepy town needs a champion for its young
Branton Hills is a small town in a rich farming district, and it is going nowhere. It neglects its roads and has no plans for new public buildings or parks. Its only links to nearby towns are the railroad and old Dobbin, the farm horse.
John Gadsby, a man of around fifty with two sons and two daughters, sees the problem. He is a loyal churchman known for honest dealing, and he cannot get the town council to spend a cent. Then he hears the high school pupils grumble that the town is a dry twig. Gadsby loves the phrase and builds a plan on it.
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What is Gadsby about?
Gadsby tells how John Gadsby leads the young people of Branton Hills to turn a sleepy town into a thriving city, with parks, a library, a zoo, a hospital and an airport, while his own family grows.
Why is Gadsby written without the letter E?
The author set out to prove that a full novel could be written without the most common letter in English. He tied down the E key of his typewriter so none could slip in by accident.
Is Gadsby a true story?
The book presents Branton Hills as the setting for a story about what young people can do when given a chance.
The author
Ernest Vincent Wright
1872–1939 · American novelist
Ernest Vincent Wright (1872–1939) was an American writer who lived in the United States. He wrote the novel Gadsby, published in 1939, the year of his death. His work appeared under his full name and under the name Ernest V. Wright.
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