Word Mysteries and Histories: From Quiche to Humble Pie [Paperback]

American Heritage Publishing Company (Author), Barry Moser (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0395402646 | ISBN-13: 978-0395402641 | Publication Date: September 1987

Delightful reading for all lovers of the language, animated by Barry Moser's haunting wood engravings. This superb collection of 500 English word origins is the perfect book for browsers, students and word aficionados. 34 woodcut illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This entertainment-oriented etymological dictionary is an uneven hodgepodge of 500 paragraph-length entries. Dictionary readers' curiosity is the only revealed selection criterion. The words and phrases included range from the ostensibly uninteresting ( cat, bed ) to the current ( latchkey child ) to the technical ( niobium ). Some entries simply give a wordy rendition of the standard dictionary etymology, but others provide interesting narrative backgrounds in an often waggish, pun-riddled prose. Like Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins ( LJ 10/1/77), which provides over 3000 entries, Word Mysteries and Histories is designed for browsing. Robert Aken, Univ. of Kentucky Libs., Lexington
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (P) (September 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395402646
• ISBN-13: 978-0395402641
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,395,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Handsome illustrations to an enjoyable book of etymology, June 10, 2003

By 

brainiacbooks (Staten Island, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Word Mysteries and Histories: From Quiche to Humble Pie (Paperback)

I strongly disagree with the first reviewer here, who categorized Barry Moser's illustrations as "lousy 'art'." She complains that the images are macabre and sometimes border on the repulsive. She seems to think that her low opinion means that the works must give up any claim to being art. I believe that her sensibilities are rather too delicate, and suggest that she avoid viewing the works of great artists and illustrators such as Goya, Bosch, Gustave Dore, Dali, Leonard Baskin, Edward Gorey and many others. There is nothing offensive here but the cavalier manner in which the reviewer negates the artistic legitimacy of an entire series of prints.

Please see Amazon.com's scan of the book cover above, and you will see a handsome, well-composed wood engraving done with considerable skill, representative of the illustrations commissioned for this volume. The title of the book is "Word MYSTERIES and Histories" (emphasis mine), and the artist has chosen to emphasize the darker, more sinister aspects of the word selections.

I find these strong full-page images to be an intriguing counterpoint to the text. But they are art, whether I and the censuring reviewer like them or not.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great word histories; lousy "art", August 23, 2002

By 

R. Tiedemann "Sunnye" (Bellevue, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Word Mysteries and Histories: From Quiche to Humble Pie (Paperback)

I love words and gravitate towards books about them.

Here the authors explore the backgrounds of a variety of words from "paparazzi" to "teflon," "silhouette" to "zugzwang." Emphasis is on the mystery as well as the history of the words. Illustrations by Robert Moser, original wood carvings commissioned for this work, are sometimes macabre, always different. Much of the art work borders on the repulsive and the words aren't particularly unusual -- I found only 3 I didn't know and zugzwang was one of them.

But their histories are fascinating and, after all, that's what the book is about. I just wish they'd concentrated on the words and left out the "art" entirely.