Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive SCRABBLE Players

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive SCRABBLE Players

3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 · rating details · 2,985 ratings · 477 reviews

Scrabble may be truly called America's game. But for every group of "living-room players" there is someone who is "at one with the board." In Word Freak, Stefan Fatsis introduces readers to those few, exploring the underground world of colorful characters for which the Scrabble game is life-playing competitively in tournaments across the country. It is also the story of ho...more

Paperback, 372 pages

Published July 30th 2002 by Penguin Books (first published July 7th 2001)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Best Non-Fiction (non biography)

126th out of 2,088 books — 3,731 voters

The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

You Read a Book about What?

65th out of 422 books — 205 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jan 09, 2008 Tung rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, memoirs

Fatsis, a columnist for various NY magazines, took a year off to investigate the world of competitive Scrabble. As someone who makes a living with words, and who grew up playing Scrabble, Fatsis does more than investigate this world; he immerses himself in it. The book functions half as nonfiction documentary, and half as memoir, as Fatsis details both the professional circuit and his rise through its ranks. Fatsis does a good job of balancing details of Scrabble’s history (both the history of t...more Fatsis, a columnist for various NY magazines, took a year off to investigate the world of competitive Scrabble. As someone who makes a living with words, and who grew up playing Scrabble, Fatsis does more than investigate this world; he immerses himself in it. The book functions half as nonfiction documentary, and half as memoir, as Fatsis details both the professional circuit and his rise through its ranks. Fatsis does a good job of balancing details of Scrabble’s history (both the history of the game and the history of competitive tournaments), in-depth character portraits of the game’s quirkiest top players, and the rapid progression of his own skills. For those interested in getting better at Scrabble, Fatsis also details the lessons he learned and describes the various techniques used by the world’s best players. Ultimately, I had a few issues with the book that prevented it from being anything more than mediocre. First, as hard as Fatsis tries to make the tournaments come to life and convey their excitement, it isn’t enough. Scrabble tournaments simply aren’t exciting unless you are talented enough to grasp (and interested in grasping) the difficulty of the plays upon which the games are won or loss. Describing how playing a five-letter word instead of a seven-letter word cost someone a game doesn’t jump off the page no matter how good the prose. Second, what Fatsis recognizes about competitive Scrabble also becomes the undoing of this book: Scrabble tournaments are won and lost due to a player’s ability to spit out completely obscure words. Not only does this immediately distance 99% of all readers from this insular world, but it also makes the tournament summaries even less accessible. Fatsis describing someone playing WATERZOOI to win doesn’t resonate with anyone. Lastly, despite the book’s attempts to compare Scrabble to all other competitive pursuits and thus make the subject matter more relatable to readers, the obsessive behaviors displayed by the quirky characters upon whom Fatsis focuses his attention only serves to further emphasize how completely unlike other competitive pursuits Scrabble really is. An interesting read in the same way The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is interesting – you want to read about crazy people. Otherwise, this book is in the take-it-or-leave-it category.(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Jul 13, 2007 Dave-O rated it 5 of 5 stars

Stephen Fatsis writes a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat book on the quirky, obsessive, very male-dominated world of competitive Scrabble playing. Although the cast of characters is fascinating enough, I was more interested in Fatsis' own transformation from "living room" player to a high-ranking qualifier in major tournaments. He describes his initial frustration at losing to the blue hair set to even more frustration at not grasping expert game strategies. He learns that in order to become a cham...more

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 10, 2009 bookczuk rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookcrossing, i-heard-about-it-on-npr

Original review written February 9, 2004
I found this book a fascinating example of how diverse and quirky people can be. I love Scrabble, and am a fairly decent "living room" player. Stepping into the world of competitive playing was an eye opener. I am a literate, well educated, articulate person. I was totally stumped by so many of the words that players came up with in the stress of competition. It was a bit frustrating for me, as each time I came across a new word I had to reach for the dic...more Original review written February 9, 2004
I found this book a fascinating example of how diverse and quirky people can be. I love Scrabble, and am a fairly decent "living room" player. Stepping into the world of competitive playing was an eye opener. I am a literate, well educated, articulate person. I was totally stumped by so many of the words that players came up with in the stress of competition. It was a bit frustrating for me, as each time I came across a new word I had to reach for the dictionary to look it up. (Which meant that my reading was somewhat halted- having to make such frequent stops- one page I had to stop 24 times- after that, I refused to keep count- which is good, because I can no longer remember what all the new vocabulary meant!)

I loved reading the history of the game. We have one of the early sets from the 50's and it is a prized possession. No matter how I may lust after the fancy ones that spin and turn, I won't give up my childhood set.

There were things I found distracting when reading the book- because I had to read it in short bursts and hops, I had to constantly refresh myself what some of the shorthand and symbols meant.

I am slightly familiar with the world of competitive chess and the regulars of bingo- of competitive sports as well. This was a glimpse into another type of competitive gaming- and made me itch to get my hands on the scrabble tiles again.

But ultimately, this was so far removed from my scrabble experiences, that I had a hard time relating.

This is an additional comment I made when I read Maggie's review February 10, 2009

I am a total scrabble-holic (finally had to go cold turkey for online scrabble (which was fun because you had all the time you needed to mull over the tiles), because it was eating my life. ) I read this before the invention of online scrabble, where people cheat like the dickens (I'm convinced they have to -- there must be lists of 7 letter words and programs for figuring out combinations etc. That's another reason I quit on-line scrabble. It was too tempting and too easy to potentially cheat, and I don't need that black mark on my soul. I have quite enough already, thank-you-very-much.)(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jan 03, 2008 Nancy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to Nancy by: Gwen Gray

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Mar 26, 2009 Doug rated it 4 of 5 stars

The underworld of competitive Scrabble. I found the lives of word freaks very interesting. The book is a bit tedious at times, but worth the read.

1 like · like · see review

Dec 24, 2007 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a great book for scrabble nerds who understand the orgasmic elation of getting 7 letter bingos on a triple word score, watching with sadistic fervor your score double the points of your opponent. Scrabble is a sub-world of cultural and social norms where the most otherwise awkward, less than average weirdos become more than accepted, they become glorified champions. And now thanks to this book and the subsequent documentaries that followed, scrabble is now covered by ESPN. It has risen a...more

1 like · like · see review

Jun 05, 2008 Margaret rated it 2 of 5 stars

I feel a bit guilty listing this as "read," because I really only read the first third or so. I just couldn't get into it...I don't know if I'm just too distracted by life at the moment since I had a very similar criticism about another book that I was just reading, but I almost had to keep forcing myself to give this a try. Maybe I expected the real-life characters to be more likeable, kind-of like the documentary version of competitive Scrabble, Word Play. Anyhoo, I would love to know if I'm t...more

1 like · like · see review

May 20, 2007 meg rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: scrabble lovers, but only the ones who are in it for the points

Shelves: nonfiction, books-i-own

hmm. i was fully expecting to love this book, but i had to stop a few chapters in. there was some interesting views into the world of competitive scrabble and portraits of its motely competitors, but i was bugged by the emphasis of points over love of new and interesting words. so much of it is about memorization and winning tactics, which, i guess is what the competition part is all about... but it just made me want to go play scrabble for fun instead of reading about all the people who take it...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 06, 2011 Jesse Bornemann added it · review of another edition

The word "obsession" is worth 11 points on a Scrabble board. It is best formed by playing the seven letters "OBSESSI" atop the root word "ON," netting a 50-point bingo. Or, if you prefer, you could play "SESSION" under "OB," as these are both acceptable words in the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary. Of course, you'll want to pay attention to letter positioning -- try to hit a triple-letter with the B, and don't set your opponent up for a triple-word. Oh, and mind the S's and blanks.

If the ab...more

like · see review

May 08, 2013 Tom Franklin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I think Fatsis set out to write a book about the world of competitive Scrabble, but in reality I think he simply wanted someone to pay for his time indulging his obsessiveness regarding the game. Not that that's such a bad thing, really. ) His dual role as reporter and player doesn't just blur, it gets wiped clean to the point where I think he was the only one thinking he was still being a reporter.

Fatsis' book is, on the surface, about the game and the people who play it competitively. However,...more

like · see review

Dec 01, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very fun book recounting the author's 3-year odyssey reporting on, but also immersing himself in, competitive Scrabble culture. He gets to the point of being sort of second-tier among the pros, and given the luck factor in the game can occasionally beat even the best in the country. Interesting stuff about the history of the game incl. incredible fad for it in the 50's of which I was unaware, the development of computer programs that (as in chess and Jeopardy) have gotten to be better than the b...more

like · see review

Sep 17, 2012 fuzzgig added it

In Word Freak, Fatsis starts off as a mild-mannered run-of-the-mill sports and business reporter for the Wall Street Journal and NPR. But when he decides to write a book on the world of competitive Scrabble players, he succumbs to the common pitfall of ethnographers and colonial magistrates: he goes native (which anagrams into VAINEST EGO). As his fascination with the game grows, so does his personal involvement--so much so that he decides to make his quest to reach expert status the book's guid...more In Word Freak, Fatsis starts off as a mild-mannered run-of-the-mill sports and business reporter for the Wall Street Journal and NPR. But when he decides to write a book on the world of competitive Scrabble players, he succumbs to the common pitfall of ethnographers and colonial magistrates: he goes native (which anagrams into VAINEST EGO). As his fascination with the game grows, so does his personal involvement--so much so that he decides to make his quest to reach expert status the book's guiding premise. The "gonzo journalism" approach makes the book less like a straight journalistic account and more like Hunter Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. If you take out all the drugs and replace them with Scrabble words, the parallels between the two books are uncanny.

For example, Fatsis' life begins to fall into dysfunctionalism. He starts hanging out with the dropouts who play Scrabble in New York's Washington Square Park. He begins attending wild anagramming parties. Soon, Fatsis is taking a leave of absence from the Wall Street Journal in order to play Scrabble full time.

Fatsis befriends a band of Scrabble misfits. There's Joel Sherman, a top player who claims that his gastro-intenstinal problems prevent him from holding a steady job (thus earning mimself the moniker "G.I. Joel"). After winning a national championship, G.I. Joel states, "This basically validates my existence."

Then there's Matt Graham, a vitamin popping stand-up comedian who loves to bet on games, and his friend Marlon Hill, an unemployed trash-talking African American. Joe Edley is a three-time Scrabble Champion practices yoga and uses the principles of Zen Buddhism in order to prepare for games. There's even Scrabble players who play in English, but can't speak it. Fatsis also makes a pilgrimage to the home of Alfred Butts, the inventor of Scrabble.

The characters are memorable enough to carry the story through more esoteric passages (such as the details of how the official Scrabble dictionaries came to be). In one intriguing coincidence, Fatsis happens to talk with a homeless person outside of an airport. He discovers that the disheveled shell of a man is a former Scrabble expert. Luckily for Fatsis, he achieves his goal of achieving expert status within a year and thus is able to return to a life of normalcy before being overwhelmed.
(less)

like · see review

Jul 18, 2012 Molly rated it 2 of 5 stars

"In the living room, Scrabble is about who has a better working vocabulary. It's a sort of crossword puzzle in reverse. But in the tournament room, Scrabble has nothing to do with vocabulary. If it did, I--an Ivy League-educated professional journalist, for crying out loud--would rule. But I can only dream of competing with the champions." (40)

And so we get the story of how Fatsis is sucked into the obsessive word of competitive Scrabble. Unfortunately, Fatsis did not develop the narrative of th...more

like · see review

Jun 02, 2012 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

After reading about all the studying, memorizing, and strategizing done by those whose lives were captured in Stefan Fatsis' Word Freak, I realized I am nothing but a lowly living room player. (Are we on the same level as the blue-hairs, or are we inferior to even them?) But while I’ll never be a Joe Edley or Mike Baron, I could be a Stefan Fatsis.

So I’m starting to improve my SCRABBLE vocabulary. I’ve printed two- and three-letter word lists and hook lists for both. I’ve finished learning the t...more

like · see review

Feb 15, 2012 Charles rated it 3 of 5 stars

With the Olympics juggernaut rumbling towards us, it’s timely to remember the arbitrariness of sport and games. If humans are hard-wired to compete for food, territory or whatever, we are almost as susceptible to the quasi-competition of games.

What’s more, at two steps removed from our biological imperatives, following the action as spectators, we can still find ourselves as emotionally involved as the players themselves (ask a football fan).

Stefan Fatsis kept all this in his head but not his h...more With the Olympics juggernaut rumbling towards us, it’s timely to remember the arbitrariness of sport and games. If humans are hard-wired to compete for food, territory or whatever, we are almost as susceptible to the quasi-competition of games.

What’s more, at two steps removed from our biological imperatives, following the action as spectators, we can still find ourselves as emotionally involved as the players themselves (ask a football fan).

Stefan Fatsis kept all this in his head but not his heart as he embarked on a three year journalistic enterprise to report on the world of competitive Scrabble - by attempting to become a world class player.

In the process, he got close to a handful of eccentric top players, scraped into the ‘Scrabble Expert’ category briefly and spent many more hours learning obscure words than I’m sure he ever intended when he started the project.

To Scrabble amateurs like me, one of the revelations of Word Freak is that beyond a certain level of expertise, winning is all about learning words – to be precise, all the 267,751 words in the two official Scrabble dictionaries (one used in North America, the other in Europe). But it’s more complicated than that: it’s also about learning anagrams, and especially learning words of more than 7 letters which would allow you to ‘bingo’ – use all the letters in your tray. And don’t even start playing until you know without hesitation, the 124 acceptable two letter words.

Top players, like top athletes, keep in training with huge word lists that they constantly scan. If you doubt it’s as mechanical as that, Fatsis reports that some of the top players in the world, from Thailand and other Asian countries, can’t actually speak English. Knowing what words mean isn’t important, nor even necessarily helpful. What’s helpful is knowing each of the letters that go with any particular group of seven to make an eight letter word.

None of this was intended by Alfred Butts when he invented the game in the 1930’s. Butts was an architect who lost his job in New York City in the Depression and moved upstate. He started manufacturing the game himself, but sales were modest (perhaps because it was then called Lexiko). After rejection by the big toy manufacturerers, it was only after a series of takeovers and accidents that the renamed Scrabble became an American craze in the 1950s. Igor Stravinsky and his wife Vera were photographed playing it in their Hollywood home for the New York Times: it was the Angry Birds of its day, except that you couldn’t buy a set because they were all sold out.

Butts refused to take an interest in ‘professional’ Scrabble. With an admirable sense of proportion he appeared to think anyone contemplating learning a dictionary was taking it too seriously. But Wall Street Journal sports reporter Stefan Fatsis became a Scrabble obsessive, and this chronicle of his temporary addiction is fascinating, if sometimes giving too vivid an insight into the matters which mean so much to those who think of little else but Scrabble.

By the end, he is able to report he has got a life again: in fact, he’s acquired a wife and a baby. But his shining of a light onto this obscure world had its effect: following publication of his book, five documentary crews showed up at the 2001 World Scrabble Championship in Las Vegas to capture on film the eccentric world he had reported on.

A couple of weeks ago, I caught the results of one of those film crews’ work, a documentary called Word Wars, which was shown on Sky Arts. Not very beautifully filmed, but seeing the characters I’d read about in Fatsis’ book really brought them to life - I'm sorry Stefan - in a way that the book, with its complicated am-I-just-a-reporter-or-not dilemma hadn’t quite managed for me.

(less)

like · see review

Apr 24, 2011 Ashvin rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was recently reminded of this book. I realized that I should put a review of it because it's insanely fantastic. Seriously. Awesome.

One of the good things about Fastsis is that he immerses himself in the competitive Scrabble world. He begins to play himself, and that process gives him an appreciation that translates well. I can't remember if he actually talks about it in the book, but he currently still plays competitively. He did the same thing in A Few Seconds of Panic, which is also pretty...more

like · see review

Nov 10, 2009 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2003

Although I haven't yet succumbed to playing Scrabble (due to my knack for finding only words like UMSCHLAG and BEURRE), over the weekend I read Word Freak, Stefan Fatsis's book about ultra-serious tournament players.

Fatsis takes an unusual tack for a journalist: instead of just following the players around, he competes himself. His subjects become his mentors as he studies word lists, drives to tournaments and obsesses over his rating. In the end, I thought this was a mistake, because the last 2...more

like · see review

May 11, 2009 Ryan Mishap rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: personal-writing, sports

A Wall Street Journal reporter, Fatsis becomes intrigued by the quirky characters and intense games amongst competetitive Scrabble players. He takes a leave of absence from his job and begins to play, meet the misfit characters, and research the game.
G.I. Joel, a World Champion, asks Fatsis at one point: "So, are you here as a journalist or are you hooked?"
"I'm hooked," Fatsis confirms, and the book is far better for this fact. Instead of being an outsider--reporters or researchers often sta...more

like · see review

Sep 04, 2011 Steve Cunha rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'll preface this review with the fact that I really wanted to play a game of Scrabble after reading this book! The first 300 pages or so are intricately detailed and rich with the history of the game. I particularly enjoyed learning the strategies used while playing Scrabble. Who knew that "qi" is actually a word? But the heart of the book lies within the characters who obsessively play the game. Their quirks, personalities and love of Scrabble really come off the page and make you root for the...more

like · see review

Jul 12, 2010 Steve Betz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008, non-fiction

The book “Word Freak” from Stefan Fatsis chronicles the author’s foray into competitive Scrabble. Initially, Fatsis (a Wall Street Journal reporter) had decided to cover competitive Scrabble from a human interest story – a get to know ‘em piece, but also one with a bit of “hey, look at these crazy obsessed folks” angle – and in the “walk a mile in a man’s shoes” idea, he begins playing competitively. And he gets hooked.

The book covers a couple of years of Fatsis’ obsession as he tries to climb t...more

like · see review

Sep 26, 2007 Jesse rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone.

This book wins. What can you possibly learn about life from people who obessively play scrabble as their hobby and sometimes as their default profession? Quite a lot - about passion, about friendships between people - about being intensely devoted to something because you love it, not because it's popular or because others understand it. And the best part about it is you even start to catch a bit of enthusasm for playing scrabble! Read it. You'll like it.

1 like · like · see review

Jul 25, 2009 Dave rated it 4 of 5 stars

I actually don’t really like SCRABBLE that much. Never played it growing up, and have only ever played online knockoffs with friends. I think I can say that I’ve played SCRABBLE 8-10 times in my life total. I did not know it had to be written in all capital letters or about the competitive SCRABBLE tournaments or those who dedicate themselves to the craft. On some level, I now have less appreciation for quality SCRABBLE players. I always sort of saw it as a skill game of vocabulary, but at the h...more I actually don’t really like SCRABBLE that much. Never played it growing up, and have only ever played online knockoffs with friends. I think I can say that I’ve played SCRABBLE 8-10 times in my life total. I did not know it had to be written in all capital letters or about the competitive SCRABBLE tournaments or those who dedicate themselves to the craft. On some level, I now have less appreciation for quality SCRABBLE players. I always sort of saw it as a skill game of vocabulary, but at the highest level it is simply memorization, probability, and strategy. I personally have already reaped the benefits of reading this book by laying down a “QI” in one of the aforementioned online knockoffs. I can at least take solace in that it was defined in the book. All that being said, I did enjoy most of the book. Most of the characters (and despite being real, that is an accurate description) are fairly interesting. The description of the pursuit and the lifestyle was compelling as well. Where the book fell short was in chronology (interviews and events are completely out of sequence for the sake of order by person being profiled, which for the most part appear to be fairly random) as well as the SCRABBLE itself. Perhaps if I had any desire to be a competitive SCRABBLE player or the pursuit of improving my skills at the game learning about anagramming and the actual act of compiling and studying word lists would hold some sway. As I don’t, it didn’t. Also, I think what was ignored was that most of the “professional” players have a vested interest in the game gaining popularity and valuable publicity and sponsorship dollars. Thus, being embedded so thoroughly in the scene and presenting as a journalist may have gone some way in reducing the honesty present. Obviously he caught some candid moments and not everyone was presented in a 100% favorable light, at the same time he was using people as sources, they were using him as well. While this may help the storytelling, I think it fails as journalism. All that being said, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it, though probably only to people who listen to NPR as it came off as an All Things Considered Story. I could almost hear the shuffling of tiles and background white noise while it was being told. That probably makes sense as Fatsis is a part-time NPR correspondent. Oh well.(less)

like · see review

Mar 25, 2009 Adam K added it

The name of the game in the Klarner household is SCRABBLE. Sure, it's a weird kind of jazz Scrabble in which certain basic rules are ignored and changed on the fly, but it's Scrabble nevertheless. Since I've been visiting them, I've caught the fever myself, so I felt I owed it to myself to check this book out.

The premise of the book is that this sportswriter decides to satisfy his own Scrabble curiosity by entering into the world of competitive Scrabble. He tracks his progress for about a year,...more

like · see review

May 11, 2013 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction-miscellany

Fatsis is great at raising the subject matter to a higher plane by exploring it from many angles. I was sold when, late in the book, he explains the Orthodox Jewish debate over whether or not placing Scrabble tiles on a Deluxe or Standard board constitutes writing, which is forbidden on the Sabbath. I am a Scrabble geek, but this book transcends geekiness, or makes geekiness seem venerable.

1 like · like · see review

Oct 22, 2010 Jane Hoppe rated it 2 of 5 stars

I thought I was a word freak. After reading the book Word Freak,however, I realize I'm apparently just a lover of words. I'm fascinated by words for their meanings, their specificity, their nuances, their stories, their sounds. Scrabble, for me, is just plain fun. The word freaks described by Fatsis memorize words for competitive gain in Scrabble tournaments. His word freaks are strategists, often obsessed, often genius.

Fatsis introduces readers to the interesting world of competitive Scrabble....more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 13, 2010 Rhonda rated it 4 of 5 stars

For what could be a dry subject for many, I really enjoyed this look into competitive Scrabble players and the history of the game itself. Novelist and frequent guest on NPR's 'All Things Considered', Stefan Fatsis did a fantastic job of writing a hip, insightful book that was at times part documentary, and part memoir. I sure came away from it thinking of Scrabble in a whole new way and I was very impressed by Stefan's descriptive nonfiction writing.

Here is an informative excerpt from the bio s...more

like · see review

Jan 14, 2011 Patrick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: eclectic, social-commentary

This is very interesting. Messed up, but fascinating. I had to create a new shelf "eclectic" to stick this on. I think many of you would find this interesting too, but there is a lot of swearing via quotes from the competitors.

Finished. It’s tempting to bag on these “nerds” obsessed with a game, but really, I think there are very, very few individuals who are world-class at something and are “normal” or balanced. Pro athletes are notorious egotistical headcases. Michael Jordan is an uber-hyper-o...more This is very interesting. Messed up, but fascinating. I had to create a new shelf "eclectic" to stick this on. I think many of you would find this interesting too, but there is a lot of swearing via quotes from the competitors.

Finished. It’s tempting to bag on these “nerds” obsessed with a game, but really, I think there are very, very few individuals who are world-class at something and are “normal” or balanced. Pro athletes are notorious egotistical headcases. Michael Jordan is an uber-hyper-ocd-competitive jerk. Other activities—chess, poker, ping-pong, debate, reading...the really, really “accomplished” individuals are not balanced. Even activities seen as “normal” and prestigious—highly accomplished lawyers, businessmen, or politicians. Their single-mindedness, family problems, egos, etc. are well known, but more “respectable.” And the weirdness of truly gifted composers, authors, and artists is legendary.

So this really made me think about how to be excellent, but normal. In 98% of the definitions of excellent, I don’t think it’s an issue. But is it possible to be extraordinarily gifted, and then put the effort into the gift to make it truly elite on a world level, and maintain balance? I think it’s an interesting question and I like “The Agony and the Ecstasy” and “My Name is Asher Lev” for thinking about it too.

So I think this is at least a 3-star thought provoking book even if you hate Scrabble. Being interested in language and words and game strategy can push the book to a 4 or 5-star level. The fact that the author really, truly becomes part of the “profile” will intrigue also. The very high amount of people dropping the F-bomb would push away many of my Goodreads friends.

Note: Fatsis’ book got national Scrabble tournaments on ESPN for the first time and he has worked as a commentator. Fatsis is still playing competitive Scrabble, 10 years later. He is slightly lower rated now. Here’s his 2010 results: http://www.cross-tables.com/results.p.... I read on his blog that he organized a Scrabble club at his daughter’s school and started a school age national tournament too.
(less)

like · see review

Sep 13, 2009 le-trombone rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction-games

There are people who live for Scrabble, and some are good enough to live on Scrabble -- barely. Stefan Fatsis, a sports writer for the Wall Street Journal and a "good living room player", decided to enter Scrabble tournaments and interview the players.

Fatsis covers the history of the game, the techniques to winning, but most importantly the players, who give new meaning to the word "eccentric". As Fatsis gets better (the chapters that cover his tournament play have his rating number), he begins...more

like · see review

Mar 11, 2013 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

For a moment I thought this was written by the creator of the cartoon "Pearls Before Swine!"
This was a fascinating look at a strange sub-culture brought together by a common obsession with the game Scrabble. Since I am not a very competitive person and don't enjoy games that require a great deal of analysis, I couldn't relate to the many levels on which these Scrabble players play the game. I'm more of a "find a place where a word will fit, and put it in" player. Memorizing arcane words without...more

like · see review

Mar 17, 2012 Jeff Walden rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: scrabble, favorites, nonfiction, received-as-gift

Gonzo immersion journalism about the tournament Scrabble scene? Yup. Stefan Fatsis enters competitive Scrabble and attempts to become an expert player through years of play and study. Along the way he presents the characters of the Scrabble scene, the techniques for learning words, the history of the game, and all manner of heartbreak and triumph in his personal play. If you're into words (notwithstanding that Scrabble is a math game disguised as a word game), you'll definitely want to pick this...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (5)

More editions...

Genres

Non Fiction

203 users

Autobiography > Memoir

37 users

Sports And Games > Games

25 users

Sports And Games > Sports

20 users

Humanities > Language

18 users

Sociology

9 users

Writing > Journalism

9 users

Language > Words

8 users

Biography

7 users

Culture > Pop Culture

5 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Stefan Fatsis

Stefan Fatsis is an author, reporter and familiar voice to public-radio listeners nationwide.

More about Stefan Fatsis...

Books by Stefan Fatsis

A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL

Wild And Outside: How A Renegade Minor League Revived The Spirit Of Baseball In America's Heartland

Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Word Freak: Heart...

2 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Word Freak: Heartbreak...

“(Excerpt from a standup routine by Matt Graham:)
Last Friday, my roommate sent me out to get some canned fish, because we're having some Catholic survivalists over for dinner. Weirdest thing happened. I'm coming up the steps, I stumble, all the groceries fall down the stairs. Except for a can of salmon, which falls up the stairs. Bizarre experience, but it gave me an idea. Couple nights later I was driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Cop pulled me over. I told him I was spawning. He said, 'Young man, I have reason to believe you're DUI. You know what that is?' I said, 'Do I!” — 4 people liked it

“Jessica DuLong is a lucky woman. She stumbled into an obscure world—the overheated engine room of an old fireboat—and discovered that she belonged there. Readers are lucky, too, because she has managed to translate her love affair with the water into a finely written and fascinating story about a lost American way of life.” — 1 person liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive SCRABBLE Players
avg rating	preview: Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive SCRABBLE Players Goodreads rating: 3.80 (2985 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8954.Word_Freak?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1311648229l/8954.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8954.Word_Freak?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive SCRABBLE Players by Stefan Fatsis[/url]

Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive SCRABBLE Players

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website