The Logophile's Orgy

Do you have a favorite word? A beguiling bon mot? A linguistic delicacy that cheers you up whenever it's uttered (or read)? If so, this gem of a book will delight you - not to mention tickle, enrapture, enthrall, captivate, bewitch, charm, and transport you. Within its pages are the favorite words of 220 of our most gifted writers, scientists, educators, humorists, and celebrities, collected by Lewis Frumkes, the bestselling author of How to Raise Your I.Q. by Eating Gifted Children. His respondents, who range from Norman Mailer to Linus Pauling, Ray Bradbury to Amy Tan, Dave Barry to Gloria Estefan - have written about their favorite words and why they are so enamored of them. For author Mary Higgins Clark it's memory ("the DNA of a writer"). For sports columnist Ira Berkow it's bamboozle ("the sound gives instant delight"). Actress Hedy Lamarr is partial to empathy, and comedian Phyllis Diller likes a lot of words: ephemeral, for one, and lollipop, and diaphanous. In these pages you will find words familiar (love, zest, goodness, chocolate, lullaby) and unfamiliar (chthonic, steatopygia, irredentist); words long (horripilating) and short (sex); words weird (jerzoid) and refreshingly down-to-earth (egg). There is a cornucopia of words in this irresistible volume that no self-respecting logophile should be without.
For anyone bedazzled by language or curious about the verbal preferences of others, The Logophile's Orgy - sometimes eccentric, frequently funny, often surprisingly intimate and moving - is a delectable treat. As the author himself confesses, we often wonder about other people's favorite words. Now we know.