Fun Av Paolo Bacilieri

In December 1913, the New York World newspaper published the first crossword in history. It appeared in their Sunday supplement, ¿Fun¿. <p>A century on, this absorbing puzzle continues to attract (and infuriate) millions of devotees every day. But the world''s most popular ¿ and seemingly mundane ¿ pastime has a surprising history, filled with intrigue and adventure.</p><p><b>Paolo Bacilieri</b>''s <b><i>FUN</b></i> transports us from turn-of-the-century New York to present day Milan, taking in stories of ingenious puzzle makers, ardent solvers and intellectual luminaries. Part detective story, part docudrama, and interlaced with a fiction of Bacilieri''s own imagining, <b><i>FUN</b></i> questions the crossword''s "harmless" status. Sure, it''s fun ¿ but could it also be a form of resistance, of cryptic communication, of espionage?</p>