Customer Reviews

Bibliophile's Dictionary: 2054 Masterful Words and Phrases

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I was lost in a thicket of verbiage, stumbling over vines of adverbs and lacerated by stinging nouns, trying to hack my way toward precisely the right word while writing something unspeakably boring. Then I found Miles Westley's "The Bibliophiles Dictionary" and I was saved.

But let us get something straight, right at the outset. This is not your average dictionary. It's not really even a reference work. It is a book built for browsing, for opening at random and sampling whatever happens to fall before your eyes. (It is, in that sense, excellent bathroom reading, but I digress.)

Like any good book about words the Bibliophile's Dictionary is idiosyncratic and weird, organized roughly into categories but adamantly analphabetic. In what other book can you find "Ursuline" (an order of nuns established in 1572 and devoted to the education of girls) in close proximity to "Knights of Columbus," or "Propinquity" (proximity) found so propinquitously near "Ultramontane" (of or relating to the Alps). There's no making sense of it, you just have to go with the flow.

Now, I do have some caveats. Chapter 5, for example, "The Lowly and Corrupt," features subsections named "Lustful," "Cowards and Moral Weaklings," "Drunk and Gorged," and "Lazy Slobs." This pretty much covers everyone I know, and I refuse to allow my friends to be denigrated in such callous fashion.

Still, I would say that the BD is easily the second best book I have read in the past 12 months. I am, of course, too modest to name the best book, given that I wrote it (Computer Privacy Annoyances, available on this very site and at fine bookstores everywhere). OK, maybe I'm not so modest.

Seriously, give this book a look. If you aspire to write, it belongs on your desk between Strunk and White's Elements of Style and Roget's Thesaurus. If you just love words, put it on your coffee table, or in the bath. You'll find it hard to put down.

My mom is a habitual crossword player, and this turned out to be the perfect gift for her.

This book is an amazing collection of unusual words including their definition, pronunciation and use in a sentence. It's like the author took a dictionary, removed all the words you already know, and left only those odd words you never knew existed. Great stuff and very handy.

To read Websters is to fall asleep. To read Miles Westley's dictionary is to be engaged and fascinated. This is a remarkable compilation. Consider the pages turned by the author to arrive at such a dictionary. A real treat to read or simply peruse.

This book is pretty cool, although many of these words will never come out of your mouth in everyday conversation...example: "The MISOMUSIST (one who hates learning) feels humiliated by the existance of something that is beyond him, and he hates it..." I still enjoyed reading through all the crazy words and definitions.

Miles Westley's Bibliophile's Dictionary is another winner for aspiring writers; this offering a book of words and phrases which gather unusual phrases organized into specific categories such as myths and household objects. If you're seeking an atypical collection of words to amaze and puzzle - and to sprinkle liberally into tired writing to give it some spice - Bibliophile's Dictionary is for you, encouraging both browsing and reference.

I highly recommend this book for all types of writers. This book is full of interesting and uncommon words from unusual sources. It may be a dictionary, but it makes for a pretty compelling read on its own!!! I love this book, and I can't wait for the sequel. I read it every morning when I wake up and a bit at night before I go to bed. I CAN'T GET ENOUGH!!!!

This is a very good dictionary- very helpful. The shipping, however, took ages- It came from PA, and took 3 weeks, while in contrast, another order for a different product from California came in a week.

This book is a must read for lovers of words and lovers of literature!You can find common and not-so-common words from a la mode to zoysia -- and a line from literature to show the context!

I flip to a random page each night, absorb a few words that I never knew existed, and then attempt to casually incorporate them into my conversations with good friends the following day.

Viola - the reaction written across people's faces is worth every penny and then some. The furrowed eye brough, the wrinkled nose, the subtle tilt of the head, the raised chin, the sudden and incontrollable itch on the forehead, the fluttering of the eyelids, the deer in the headlights, that look of utter amazement and on and on.

I can't wait to try this out when the Hare Krishna's knock on my door.