Customer Reviews

The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinarily Literate

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

 

 

I love my Roget's Thesaurus, and I use it often in work and correspondence. But there is are times when the words it supplies are - well - a tad too commonplace. Sometimes you need to use a word that conveys subtle shadings of meaning, and other times you just want to use a word to show the other guy how intelligent you really are. That's where The Highly Selective Thesaurus comes in. As a sheer ratio, I probably use this once for every four times I use Rogets, but as a writer friend once told me, you never need a really good, five-dollar word until you need it _badly_. If you are building or adding to your references, you must purchase this and its companion volume, the Highly Selective Dictionary, to accompany your Websters and your Rogets - and even your Encarta.

This book is worthless as one's ONLY thesaurus. However, I bought this title as a supplement for Roget... and in that capacity, I LOVE IT! There are times when I just can't find the perfect word to express myself in a conventional thesaurus... That's when I break out my Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinarily Literate (although I can only admit to moderate literacy) and usually find something intriguing... at least to me!

Owning a book with such an audacious description of the owner in the title may (to some) appear to require an extra-large helping of egocentrism. But come on... it's meant to be funny... There's no need to get all worked up over the title!

The bottom line is this: it's a good reference to have around IN ADDITION to a more meat-and-potatoes thesaurus.

Nearly all the synonyms offered by Ehrlich can be found in any good general thesaurus. The few additions they make are nothing more than gold platted saw dust and anyone with collegiate English skills would recognize the [overblown] attempt to sound "Extraordinarily Literate." If you need a book to make yourself feel more secure in your writing abilities, feel free to waste your money. Personally, I'd ... just use thesaurus.com. If you're in need of a serious writing tool, look at J.I. Rodale's "Synonym Finder" or Roget's until they come up with something better.

Though this little Thesaurus will never replace Roget's, it certainly is an entertaining and often surprisingly useful source for those who wish to test the limits of their vocabulary.
Part jabberwocky and part expanded horizons, this easy to use reference is a particularly fine adjunct to those who are repeatedly asked to write essays on subjects nearly exhausted from prior attempts at creativity. Poets, arts writers, and perky correspondents beware! There ARE more words out there to play with than even the grandest personal verbal sandbox! A fun and useful book. Grady Harp, December 2004

When I saw the title I knew it was word the [price] even if it was only as a conversation piece. What could be more gloriously pretentious that a book with this title. In its defense, however, there are some very viable synonyms that I have found useful. I does, as the author suggests, remind you of those little used words that bring descriptive writing a certain zest.

On the other hand, the book has a limited amount of entries, and some of the synonyms are a bit far fetched. If you are looking for a dependable thesaurus you can you in day-to-day writing try Roget's. But if you find you need a particularly noteworthy word this isn't a bad little addition.

This is a really fun, really goofy collection of one-hundred-dollar words that only the most arrogant intellectual--fastuous mandarins, to you!-- would ever pull out.

BUT, I bought this book in the hopes of having a useful reference, not as a party trick propellant--thus the one star rating. If you are looking for a serious, thesaurus-like aid for professional purposes, look elsewhere. If you'd like to make people feel small through your skookum vocabulary (how's that?!), then this is the book for you. And, I will admit there is fun to be had with this book, just know that's as much use as it will give you.

One of my roommates recently received this books as a gift. My curiousity got the better of me, and I picked it up to peruse it. With my sincerest apologies to the author, this has to be the worst version of any thesaurus I have seen to date. Of just a few words I decided to look up, and by no means were any of the words for the "extremely literate", I was unable to find even one of them. The volume of words in the collection are extremely limited, and synonyms provided are also limited. There are much better books available, in fact, almost any other thesaurus is better, even "pocket versions" of another thesaurus would prove more useful. My guess is that this book is the choice of the egotistical; a bookshelf trophy that serves no purpose other than to suggest superior intellect, and collect dust. The only positive aspect I can think of towards this publication is that it is sure to make the insecure feel "extraordinarily literate". If you want a valuable resource to broaden your vocabulary, this isn't the right book.

I received this book as a gift and immediately realized it's not a reference volume. I later noticed that an arrogant neighbor of mine also owns it, and I also noticed his copy appeared not to have been read or otherwise perused. It then occurred to me that, to have real value, a book like this should be USED. I decided to take this book to the office, and every time I write an interoffice email, to replace one of my own words with a term from this book. Carefully and seriously done, it can really upgrade your interoffice communication by giving you a tiny verbal edge, and will subconsciously upgrade other people's respect for your writing skills. And if some of them are made to feel small through my skookum vocabulary (as mentioned in another review), that's just tough rocks.

This is a very useful thesaurus that definitely fills a gap left by normal thesauri. However, Ehrlich often picks words that are not really synonyms but more like particular examples or even vaguely related terms. For instance, under "priest" he gives, as a synonym, "bacchante." Sorry, but a bacchante is a female worshipper of Dionysus. I can't really think of any instances where "bacchante" would be a good synonym for "priest", even if you're speaking figuratively. Another example- under "street," he gives "cul-de-sac" (is that really such an obscure word?). Everyone knows a cul-de-sac is a kind of street, but not a synonym for it. Ehrlich does this again and again, probably because he had difficulty finding enough real synonyms to fill up his book. As Ehrlich himself advises in the preface, if you come across a word you're not familiar with, be sure to look it up in a dictionary before you use it as a synonym.

I have always loved increasing my vocabulary! I constantly look up words that I haven't a clue what they mean, learn them and then use them. I love it when someone writes me an email, with a word that again I haven't a clue what they mean by that, LOL!So, I look it up again. Communicating with people with a strong sense of the ability to communicate in such a way that makes what they say extremely interesting. I think a person with with an increased vocabulary is a literate asset and I really enjoy speaking with that person, not meant simply to impress people, but to use a wider range of words and phrases to describe thoughts, feelings, or to make a point and learn another form to express yourself another way. Using other ways of communicating helps people to think, at least it does me. Isn't language an art form if you want it to be? I just happen to think that great communication skill's are fun! and I would use this book all the time! This book is a English Major's dream book!