Customer Reviews

The Describer's Dictionary: A Treasury of Terms & Literary Quotations

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a very useful book, containing brief excerpts from literary works on the left-hand pages, and lists of words broken down in categories on the right. It is interesting both to read - the excerpts are all excellent examples of descriptive writing - and to find the right word. However, I don't give it 5 stars because it has no index. To find a word, you need to look first to the chapter (main categories) then read through all the sub-categories.

The reason I like this reference so much is that if I don't find exactly what I'm looking for, I may very well find something I like better. Further, this is the kind of reference you can actually read. Open this book to any chapter (segment) on, say, "hair." You'll find several quotes about "hair" that are entertaining and may stir your own creative juices before you even get to the part that lists adjectives for all kinds of-- ahem-- tresses, locks, strands, shocks, hanks, coils, tendrils, curls, ringlets or swirls...As you can see, this offering gives an author an idea of how the best might have handled the same problem she faces. Many are mightily amusing.
If you don't just keep reading instead of handling the problem at hand, you might eventually find adjectives for some 96 possible "hair situations" and one of them will likely be exactly what you need.

There are usually several descriptive words under each entry. So for "oiled hair" you will find, "greased, slicked, slick, pomaded , brilliantined, plastered, pasted." You can choose one, let one speak to you so you can come up with a simile or metaphor, or move on down the list to see if there's something more to your liking.

When I get into a writing snit, it's often this book to my rescue.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"

Lots of fun and useful for physical descriptions of animal, vegetable and mineral. Not appropriate for writers looking for inspiration in abstracts, emotions or thought.

This is an excellent reference book and I use it every time I write. I don't believe you have to be 'low class' if you need this, as some reviewers pointed out, but some of the excerpts used are outdated and useless in today's writing world. Sure, Hawthorne, Fitzgerald and the like were wonderful writers, and we can learn, but we don't write like that today. Also, there are some words that would just sound out of place or stupid when used. He has things grouped in chapters. ( Ears, looks with eyes, colors, shapes, hairstyles, etc.) For example, he has a chapter on "Eyes" but some of the excerpts don't always match up to descriptions about "Eyes", what's up with that? HOWEVER, there are times you might need a word or two, something that escapes you, or a way to describe a look, or feeling, or texture or shape and that's where this book comes in handy. I think if you have problems with description, this can really help.

This book is very comprehensive on its contents, arranged in a very easy to use manner. In particular, I find the excerpts taken from various novels very useful. It is very important to find the right word to describe something, but how to lace the word into a sentence is also important too. For example, under the section describing face shapes, excerpts are taken from novels to show how published authors describe face shapes of their characters, thus giving ideas on writing styles.

One of the best reference works I've come across. This book will give you almost every word from colors, to shapes, to patterns, to terrain, to architecture, to colors, to textures--all of which is supplemented with excellent examples ranging from the classics to such modern writers as Nicholson Baker, proving that not only does Mr. Grambs have good taste, but that he's well read as well.

This book is arranged into topical sections and provides on one page literary examples of various words and such and other other page lists of various descriptive words fitting a theme.

It's not quite a thesaurus, per se. But it's a great resource for thumbing through to expand your vocabulary or poking through if you're looking for that just right "obscure word" to describe a given thing or situation.

As others have probably said, an index would be nice. But, c'est la vie. It is what it is. And it is a great book! If you like this book, you'll probably also like The Thinker's Thesaurus or for those preferring things a little more Eldritch: Weird Words: A Lovecraftian Lexicon. All great book for wordsmiths, philologists, and men of letters.

No book will ever come close to helping you think of those anoying little things you sometimes forget when writing. I heard even Stephen King has a copy on his shelf.

Felecia

This is a fascinating book.
I'm in a short-story writing group that is sometimes attended by guest speakers and one of the speakers recommended 'The Describer's Dictionary' as a useful resource.
I'm sure anyone who loves words and language will enjoy browsing through this book. It provides examples of clear and engaging descriptive writing on each left-side page and lists of words of the right-side page.
The price and delivery time were both good.

Just the right words to describe the hilt of a sword, a small lively man, the flight of a bird, eluding you? Fret no more gentle writer, help is at hand in the form of The Describer's Dictionary. Recommended for writers at every level by published writers and writing teachers the world over, this indispensable writer's bible should be cosying up to your dictionary & thesaurus on your desk.