Seven books inspired by the dictionary

Ceillie Clark-Keane is a writer and editor based in Boston. Her work has been published by Electric Literature, Bustle, the Ploughshares blog, the Chicago Review of Books and other outlets. She is a
nonfiction reader for Salamander and Pangyrus.

At Electric Lit Clark-Keane tagged "seven books that explore the dictionary and its cultural impact as a scholarly pursuit, as a place to find purpose, as a text to be challenged and changed, and a way to find meaning." One title on the list:

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper

In her memoir Word by Word, Kory Stamper, a lexicographer who worked at Merriam-Webster for more than twenty years, offers an insider’s look at the day-to-day tasks involved in writing dictionaries for a living. Stamper dispels some myths right away—that dictionaries moralize language, that they make the final call on what words make the cut. She provides behind-the-scenes details, like how she and her colleagues answered complaint emails, as well as facts that I can’t forget. (Irregardless was a word long before it was whole-heartedly rejected as not a word? The more you know.)

The best part of this memoir is Stamper’s warmth and enthusiasm. Her excitement in describing everything from her high-school insults to the coffee maker in the disappointingly drab Merriam-Webster offices is palpable, and it makes for a lovely read.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue