This boon to logophiles, culled from Buckley: The Right Word, presents the author’s most erudite, outré, and interesting words - from prehensile and sciolist to rubric and histrionic - complete with definitions, examples, and usage notes. Introduction by Jesse Sheidlower; illustrations by Arnold Roth.
| ||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Those who find their equanimity challenged by the lucubrations of William F. Buckley Jr. will surely see their torpor evanesce after reading The Lexicon. Monosyllabically: if it bugs you when you read words you don't know, this book will help. Buckley is renowned (and sometimes unfairly reviled) for his extensive working vocabulary, from which he unerringly picks the right word for every occasion. The Lexicon is a pocket guide to his esoterica with several hundred entries, each concisely defined and accompanied by an example of its use from his writings, which is quite a handy feature. For example:
lucubrate (verb) To discourse learnedly in writing.It is a sign of his skill as a writer that the book may be read for pleasure. Illustrations by Arnold Roth add to the enjoyment, making this the perfect introduction to Buckleyian erudition. --Rob Lightner
Under the Eisenhower program, one could lucubrate over constitutional rights and freedoms and forever abandon captured American soldiers.
From Library Journal
Buckley is a wordsmith extraordinaire, his speech and writing regularly peppered with arcane vocabulary. This book, previously published as part of Buckley's linguistic compendium, The Right Word (LJ 12/96), brings together a list of his favorite words, each with a citation from one of his many published works. Words like epigone, nugatory, and rodomontade will stretch the frontiers of most readers' vocabulary, and the illustrations by Arnold Roth are a perfect accompaniment to the text. This would be a great choice for students studying for the SATs or for anyone who loves language?it's certainly more useful, and more fun, than those word-a-day calendars. Highly recommended for all collections.?Lisa J. Cihlar, Monroe P.L., WI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic book for word lovers,
This review is from: The Lexicon: A Cornucopia of Wonderful Words for the Inquisitive Word Lover (Paperback)
This is THE book to have if you love English. There are wonderful examples of each word included. It's nice little size make it easy to take with you. The only reason it didn't get five stars from me is that it lacks the pronunciation of each word. Some you can guess, others, well, you better have a good dictionary on hand!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great book, but...,
By Sunner Magoo "Sunner Magoo" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Lexicon: A Cornucopia of Wonderful Words for the Inquisitive Word Lover (Paperback)
Ok great book, great man, incredible and renowned command of the English language, but what in the WORLD was he thinking by not adding the PRONUNCIATIONS????? GROAN. Terrible oversight. Almost hard to believe this could be overlooked. This book would have been a BIBLE of sorts to me if it showed pronunciations. Now I am forced to go look up the pronunciation every time I find a new word I like. Sigh.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Do You Really Need a Pronunciation Guide?,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Lexicon: A Cornucopia of Wonderful Words for the Inquisitive Word Lover (Paperback)
When William Buckley passed away recently, several public television stations aired some of his older interviews. They reminded me how much I miss WFB. I bought this lexicon and read it all in the first night. I did not need a guide to word pronunciation, and did not expect one in a modern lexicon. It did make me laugh to remember how much I enjoyed Buckley's smug intellect, and that smile he would get when he thought he was about ready to leave his opponent speechless with his next comment. If you liked Buckley, you will like this little book. Highly recommended.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs):
(learn more)
New York, Soviet Union, United States, Fidel Castro, Firing Line, John Lindsay, Edgar Smith, Saddam Hussein, Alistair Fleetwood, Mikhail Gorbachev, West Germany, Adam Clayton Powell, Adlai Stevenson, Alice Goodyear Corbett, Allen Dulles, Barry Goldwater, Bertram Heath, Clare Boothe Luce, Colonel North, Conservative Party, George Bush, House of Representatives, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King, President Bush New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
New York, Soviet Union, United States, Fidel Castro, Firing Line, John Lindsay, Edgar Smith, Saddam Hussein, Alistair Fleetwood, Mikhail Gorbachev, West Germany, Adam Clayton Powell, Adlai Stevenson, Alice Goodyear Corbett, Allen Dulles, Barry Goldwater, Bertram Heath, Clare Boothe Luce, Colonel North, Conservative Party, George Bush, House of Representatives, Jesse Jackson, Martin Luther King, President Bush New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 6
books:
See all 6 books this book cites
- The Conscience of a Conservative by Barry Goldwater on page 10
- On the Firing Line: The Public Life of Our Public Figures by Jr. William F. Buckley in Back Matter
- Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift on page 20
- God and Man at Yale by William F., JR. Buckley in Back Matter
- Saving the Queen (Blackford Oakes Novel) by William F Buckley in Back Matter
See all 6 books this book cites
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Listmania!
|
|
