Breveries?

Arnold Hollander

An unofficial Bewildering Stories motto: “The poet’s worst enemy is not the critic, it’s the typo.” — (probably Oscar Wilde)

[Arnie] I read Channie Greenberg’s “Reduced Acuity” and wondered about the “breveries.” It occurred to me she actually meant breviaries, books containing prayers, hymns and psalms. Maybe it was poetic license. Am I right?

[Don Webb] A reasonable conjecture, Arnie, but in view of the author’s cultural context I think it’s unlikely. Rather “breveries” may be a portmanteau word combining “brief” and “reveries.”

Or it may be just a typo; who knows? If it is, though, I consider it a happy slip of the finger.