After thirty-five years as a book editor in New York City, Ann Patty stopped working and moved to the country. Bored, aimless, and lost in the woods, she hoped to challenge her restless, word-loving brain through a serious study of Latin at local colleges. Living with a Dead Language is her entertaining exploration of the richness and relevance of the Latin language and literature.
As she begins to make sense of Latin grammar and syntax, her studies open unexpected windows into her own life. The louche poetry of Catullus calls up her early days in 1970s New York. Lucretius elucidates her attraction to Buddhism while Ovid’s verse conjures a delightful dimension to the flora and fauna that surround her. Women in Roman history give her new understanding and empathy for her tragic, long-deceased mother. Finally, Virgil reconciles her to her new life as a rustic scholar, writer and teacher. Along the way, she meets an impassioned group of professors, students, and classicists outside of academia who keep Latin very much alive.
Written with humor, heart, and an infectious enthusiasm for words, Patty’s book is an object lesson in how learning and literature can transform the past and lead to an unexpected future.
