Hyphen

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.To hyphenate or not to hyphenate has been a central point of controversy since before the imprinting of the first Gutenberg Bible. The journey of this humble piece of connective punctuation reveals the quiet power of an orthographic concept to speak to the travails of hyphenated individuals all over the world. And yet, the hyphen has persisted, bringing and bridging new words and concepts.Hyphen follows the story of the hyphen from antiquity-"Hyphen" is derived from an ancient Greek word meaning "to tie together" -to the present, but also uncovers the politics of the hyphen and the role it plays in creating identities.

Hyphen is ultimately a compelling story about the powerful ways that language and identity intertwine.Mahdavi-herself a hyphenated