Erin McKean's book list

Erin McKean, Oxford University Press’ chief consulting editor for American dictionaries, came up with a list of adored books for The Week magazine.

Two of her recommended titles:

Word Menu

Before I die I hope I can convince every writer to get a copy of this wonderful book, a thesaurus of things. Believe me, you need a book that has pages and pages of words for different kinds of underwear—you just don’t know it yet.

Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus

This groundbreaking thesaurus not only includes all the synonyms you could ever reasonably expect to need (or should reasonably ever use), but also helpful notes from major writers (including Francine Prose, Michael Dirda, and David Foster Wallace) who give their personal reactions to particular words they love or hate.

Read about Erin McKean's other book picks.

McKean's more recent books are Totally Weird and Wonderful Words and That’s Amore: The Language of Love for Lovers of Language.

From the publisher:

That’s Amore! is a captivating collection of the language of love from around the globe, celebrating the universality as well as the diversity of this most sought-after state. Embracing more than 50 languages, learn how the French flirt and the Danes date. Discover that while both the French and the Italians are thunder-struck by love coup de foudre and colpo di fulmine respectively, the Spanish are hit with Cupid’s arrow fue flechazo. In Greece, you will be well served to understand the meanings behind the five types of love; philia, eros, agape, storge and xenia.

--Marshal Zeringue