Customer Reviews

I Love Me, Vol. 1: S. Wordrow's Palindrome Encyclopedia

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

 

 

Word-gamers, punners, palindromists, and the simply weird will enjoy this book. It's full of mind-twisting and paradigm-bending palindromes, some of which are old chestnuts (such as Napoleon's lament "Able was ere I saw Elba" or the more complicated "'Naomi, sex at noon taxes', I moan") while others are truly bizarre. Moreover, the author plucks palindromes out of heretofore unexplored territory (airport codes, geographical locations, and the like).

Interestingly, the book is not limited to palindromes; it also features some anagrams as well as word-squares.

Don't expect to read this in one sitting. Your mind will turn to mush if you try to do so!

There are spots of brilliance in this book, and unfortunately much larger spots of sappy material, such as codes for airports or peculiar numbers that happen to be palindromes. Palindromes are an art form, perhaps the most constrained art form, and some, like those of J. A. Lindon, are sublime. The author himself contributes a few very good original examples. He also slavishly quotes a number of other sources and in particular is treats everything by Lindon as a work of genius. Lindon was admittedly good, but not quite that good. The author's scholarly work in finding the sources of famous palindromes is not superficial. The worst feature of the book is that the author cannot resist adding an inane 'explanation' after almost all entries. The book would have been better with about half its content excised.

Donner deserves high praise for having compiled this item-- I enjoy consulting it from time to time, and my son picks it up when he's looking for a chuckle. Others (below) criticize it for perhaps containing too many examples, and some that seem borderline, but I appreciate the full gamut. Is this book for everyone? No, clearly not-- word nuts may only represent a tiny corner of the world, but we need such books to keep us amused! This one more than fills the bill.