Synopses & Reviews
An obsessive word lover's account of reading the entire
Oxford English Dictionary, hailed as "the
Super Size Me of lexicography."
"I'm reading the OED so you don't have to," says Ammon Shea on his slightly masochistic journey to scale the word lover's Mount Everest: the Oxford English Dictionary. In 26 chapters filled with sharp wit, sheer delight, and a documentarian's keen eye, Shea shares his year inside the OED, delivering a hair-pulling, eye-crossing account of reading every word.
Review
"Oddly inspiring...Shea has walked the wildwood of our gnarled, ancient speech and returned singing incomprehensible sounds in a language that turns out to be our own."
-Nicholson Baker, New York Times Book Review
"Delicious...a lively lexicon."
-O, The Oprah Magazine
"Readworthy."
-William Safire, The New York Times Magazine
Synopsis
With sharp wit, sheer delight, and a keen eye, Shea shares his year inside the "Oxford English Dictionary," delivering an eye-crossing account of reading every word, and revealing the most obscure, hilarious gems he discovers along the way.
About the Author
Ammon Shea is the author of two previous books on obscure words, Depraved English and Insulting English (written with Peter Novobatzky). He read his first dictionary, Merriam Webster’s Second International, ten years ago, and followed it up with the sequel, Webster’s Third International. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.