false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1203704017m/2300922.jpg 2300922 6 <B>An obsessive word lover's account of reading the <I>Oxford English Dictionary</I> cover to cover.</B><BR><BR> "I'm reading the <I>OED</I> so you don't have to. If you are interested in vocabulary that is both spectacularly useful and beautifully useless, read on..."<BR><BR> So reports Ammon Shea, the tireless, word-obsessed, and more than slightly masochistic author of <I>Reading the OED</I>. The word lover's Mount Everest, the <I>OED</I> has enthralled logophiles since its initial publication 80 years ago. Weighing in at 137 pounds, it is the dictionary to end all dictionaries.<BR><BR> In 26 chapters filled with sharp wit, sheer delight, and a documentarian's keen eye, Shea shares his year inside the <I>OED</I>, delivering a hair-pulling, eye-crossing account of reading every word, and revealing the most obscure, hilarious, and wonderful gems he discovers along the way. 2307328 5 8 2008 Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages total:271|5:67|4:88|3:91|2:20|1:5| 271 1005 700 133 3 7 false false Tue Jan 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 26 16:58:33 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 13 02:04:33 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 4 false false Mon Oct 20 07:44:36 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 22 21:19:04 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 20 07:44:36 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Sun Oct 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 16 14:12:04 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 19 10:35:25 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 29 19:28:04 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 29 19:28:23 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Feb 12 00:53:48 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 01:11:53 -0800 2009
Particularly memorable are Kakistocracy - government by the worst citizens, Obdormition - the falling asleep of a limb and Misdelig...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 17 11:35:53 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 17 11:37:58 -0800 2009
The book...more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 20:21:35 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 20:25:24 -0700 2009 Reading the OED marks the third of my personal OED triptych that began with the two Simon Winchester books, and I’ve gotta say, I absolutely loved this one. I would read more of this before be...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Aug 07 13:53:24 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 07 14:47:26 -0700 2009 he describes dictionary-reading as a great many things. it could start from the love-at-first-sniff ink, to the...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 07:07:09 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 12:43:21 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Dec 28 05:23:08 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 18 11:14:45 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Feb 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 23:22:11 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 21 15:51:15 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Oct 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 17:00:39 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 18:05:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 14:36:58 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 14:46:18 -0700 2009 The Know It All is superior to Shea's Reading the OED. Still and all, it made a most excellent airplane book, and I do feel the need to go back and highlight some of the more interesting and useful words Shea scraped u...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 12:49:17 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 21 12:54:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 09:06:10 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 09:10:15 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Dec 10 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 04 01:56:34 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 05:15:19 -0800 2008
Yes, I am one of "them". A word-nerd. One of those odd people who enjoy reading dictionaries. I've done it since...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 26 09:43:51 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 20:38:25 -0700 2009
Lant (v.) -- "to add ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Nov 23 17:06:21 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 23 17:14:12 -0800 2008 1
Enlightening - each of the 27 chapters (one for each letter of the alphabet and one for the ...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 09:48:12 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 18 06:30:41 -0700 2009 The Know It All by AJ Jacobs, but it was like Know It All's loser cousin. Ammon Shea and I are completely opposite in temperament and ideology: he is a painfully introverted, psycho-leftist whiner, and I'm normal. He had something negative to say about every word conce...more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Jul 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 07 14:52:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 13:22:58 -0700 2009
* Although it's a promising reason to write a book, Shea wastes the opportunity by returning with a boring selection of words and anecdotes.
* Instead of letting the OED speak for itself, he paraph...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2300922