The Art of Spelling: The Madness and the Method [Hardcover]

Marilyn Vos Savant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2000

-- Is there any hope for dreadful spellers?
-- How might your spelling illuminate aspects of your personality?
-- What does your spelling say about your intelligence?

Answers to these questions -- and many more -- can be found in Marilyn vos Savant's delightfully written The Art of Spelling. This book is the result of the "Ask Marilyn" spelling survey, which drew more than 43,000 responses and investigated whether good spelling was a measure of native intelligence, education, personality traits, or desire. With her trademark no-nonsense wit, vos Savant describes the psychological evidence for where good (and bad) spelling originates, provides personality portraits of all kinds of spellers (a superb speller is more likely to keep a tidy house), and offers the most effective methods of spelling improvement known. Vos Savant vividly recounts the turbulent history of English spelling, provides a timely warning against the pitfalls of spell-checkers and other writing tools, and gives a glimpse of a positive future for spelling standards in education. The Art of Spelling will appeal to scholars, students, and language lovers of all ages.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In 1998, Parade's "Ask Marilyn" columnist Vos Savant did a reader survey about spelling and received more than 43,000 responses. The result of the survey is this book. Vos Savant offers some suggestions for spelling improvement, supplying common roots like anim-, arch-, and spec- and a list of 500 commonly misspelled words. She also includes a few quizzes, with answers in the back of the book. This is not a how-to book, however, for more than half of it examines what spelling ability tells us about intelligence and personality. Vos Savant points out that while it is true that spelling errors reveal a lot about the writer, spelling and intelligence do not necessarily go hand in hand: some highly educated people spell poorly, while some uneducated people spell surprisingly well. Fortunately, everyone can learn to spell better. This well-written book is fun to read and gives hope to the spelling impaired. The bibliography and web site list are nice additions as well. Recommended for all libraries.
-DLisa J. Cihlar, Monroe P.L., WI
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Although misspelling is sometimes associated with lack of intelligence and education, it's more likely to be related to a person's organizational skills and personality traits, according to the survey results of Savant's "Ask Marilyn" column in Parade magazine. The major conclusion: people who are organized and are able to follow instructions are more likely to spell correctly than people who are not. Savant reviews the survey results and quotes linguists, lexicographers, and psychologists on spelling. She also looks at variations in pronunciation and word usage over time. Savant instructs readers on how to determine how spelling methods reflect their personalities and provides a personalized approach to improving spelling ability. She disdains the current reliance on spell-checking technology that has its limitations and doesn't get at the root of the problem for misspellers. She also offers handy tips for remembering how to spell difficult words that trip up the best spellers. Interesting, amusing, and instructive. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393049035
• ISBN-13: 978-0393049039
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,144,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT A REVELATION!, October 8, 2000

By 

Rev. Dr. Michael K. Mitchell - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Spelling: The Madness and the Method (Hardcover)

All my life, that's 68 years, I've been a horrible speller. Even though I am a member of Mensa, as is Marilyn Vos Savant, I can not spell well. Even though I have an earned Ph.D. from Texas A&M University I can not spell. This lack of spelling ability has caused me many episodes of embarrassment and concern. I have a dictionary at hand when ever I write. I seldom send anything out without having it read by an editor, my wife, Nell.

Given the above, I wrote Marilyn Vos Savant and asked her this question. "Do you believe that the ability to spell is a measure of intelligence, education or desire?"

Ms.Savant's printed my question in Parade Magazine. She got 42,000 answers from readers. She then used her 200+ IQ and did a very comprehensive job of researching what others had said and written. After she examined the 42,000 answers and the results of her research she wrote one of the most informative books I could imagine. Her analysis and very readable writing style is a testament to her great mind.

I recommend this book to ALL teachers and others who are interested in spelling problems. It is worth much more than the few dollars Amazon is charging.

25 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The madness and the method, January 6, 2001

By 

Steve Bett (Natchitoches, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Spelling: The Madness and the Method (Hardcover)

The Art of Spelling by Marilyn Vos Savant is a book to be read not an exercise manual. It summarizes much of the advice found in other books on spelling improvement and includes such things as a list of the most frequently misspelled words but contains no drills. As close as one gets to the usual content of a self help book on spelling is a personality questionnaire.

Nearly half of the book is devoted to the psychology of good and bad spellers so it makes sense to determine if the reader has the characteristics of either of these groups.

Unlike many books on this topic, the author has not only read the best books on the topic but has interviewed the authors.

It certainly makes sense to interview the experts but I have rarely seen this strategy used as effectively as it is in this book.

Although she interviews the Anglo-Saxon scholar who the president of the Simplified Spelling Society, she misses the opportunity to address any of the real solutions to the spelling problem.

She does identify the problem as "phonetic irregularity" -- many words are not spelled the way they are pronounced.

She follows up this insight with a misleading quote from author Edna Furness (p.119) "Research in linguistics has shown that the English language is more phonetic than we realize (approximately 85%)."

All languages are 100% phonetic. It is the writing systems that try to record meaningful sounds that go astray.

There is some statistical regularity in English spelling. Four spelling patterns for the 12 elementary vowels will account for 75% of the vowel spellings in the dictionary. [See www.unifon.org/uu-18ways.html].

Most writing systems achieve a spelling predictability rating of over 85% but not the traditional one used to transcribe English. In English, knowing how to pronounce a word will enable someone to come up with not one but a half dozen orthographically correct spellings. Since each sound in English is spelled 14 different ways, narrowing the spelling of a particular pronunciation down to 6 alternatives is an accomplishment.

There may be an 85% chance that one of these six allowable spellings is correct -- i.e., matches the dictionary.

Knowing the basic code does help narrow the field and Vos Savant lists up to five of the most common spellings for 39 of the 40 or so sounds in English speech. She also provides some useful mnemonic devices for selecting the best alternative in the group.

Other practical advice includes how to use a spelling checker without being overly dependent on it.

This is a book that anyone with an interest in spelling will enjoy reading. Marilyn Vos Savant is a seasoned writer and it shows.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The ART of SPELLING is spellbinding!, January 13, 2001

By 

Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of Spelling: The Madness and the Method (Hardcover)

With Joan Reilly's illustration this lively, comprehensive & useful guide for spellers of all abilities takes a look at what our spelling reveals about our intelligence & personalities.

Marilyn vos Savant reconstitutes our turbulent history in spelling this language we call English, offering us insights about the use & misuse of spell-checkers - remember, computers won't know the difference between wave & waive or their & they're & she sketches some surprising portraits of all kinds of us spellers.

If spelling interests you in the least little bit, do give this book a go - you may very well find it a delight, I did! Do visit my site for my full review & editorials on the love of reading & writing!