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ElspethB · 07-25-2019, 11:10 AM

The OED has 1839 as the first appearance in print although that use was not in respect to books. The first use of unputdownable as a description of an engrossing read was in 1935, as DNSB mentions above. It was used in an advertisement in the New York Times for a book titled Memory of Love, which the ad described as "unusually ‘un-put-down-able’." The hyphens come and go in various usages.

My opinion is that it's a clunky word, but useful in that it conveys a sense of how riveting a book might be to a reader in one word instead of a bunch. If I were writing a review, I would probably find another way of describing my enjoyment, but it doesn't put me off to encounter it.

07-25-2019, 11:10 AM	#7
ElspethB Passionate Reader Posts: 276 Karma: 1829152 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Central Jersey, USA Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab S3, Kobo Clara HD, Fire HD 8, Voyage, Oasis 3, PW5	The OED has 1839 as the first appearance in print although that use was not in respect to books. The first use of unputdownable as a description of an engrossing read was in 1935, as DNSB mentions above. It was used in an advertisement in the New York Times for a book titled Memory of Love, which the ad described as "unusually ‘un-put-down-able’." The hyphens come and go in various usages. My opinion is that it's a clunky word, but useful in that it conveys a sense of how riveting a book might be to a reader in one word instead of a bunch. If I were writing a review, I would probably find another way of describing my enjoyment, but it doesn't put me off to encounter it.