Product Description
A dictionary for those who perceive a difference, a handbook for Superior Persons who love words.
Are you an Anglophile? (Stout fellow!) Just stand at this springboard and leave the fields of popinjay jabber and tongue-stumped battology behind forever! Step up for big dividends in the giddy heights of superior speech. Are you a rasorial searcher after words? Are nouns your bread? Adjectives your butter? Verbs your little salad? Adverbs your house dressing? Well, then, this is the book to shiver you futtocks! Put an end to fopdoodly speech; amaze your friends, baffle your enemies, write interoffice memos to end all discussion! Peter Bowler will teach you the practical riches of saying it well with good words, neglected words, precise words for vocabular exultation. A Superior Person is not defined by income, class, or sex. A Superior Person uses Superior Speech. And, if Aristotle's definition of art as something both entertaining and edifying is still toasted with glee, then there's art a-chock-a-block in Mr. Bowler's dictionary - a funny, useful, and elevating little book.
Customer Reviews:
A Codger's review.......2006-08-14
No not really a Codger, but someone who has volumes 1 to 3 in the 'Superior Person's book of words' series.
All of them contain words that are lost to us as the standard dictionary use's only the most popular 200,000 words or so.
'Kakistocracy' e.g. Government by the worst citizens! A word NEVER used to describe the British Government, full of ministers claiming the most personnel expense's, changing planning laws to suit their own areas or taking back-hander's for favour's!
A good read, with a good drink, tucked up in bed!
Try as an additional book 'The endangered English Dictionary' by David Grambs ISBN 0-393-03623-5 and add to your arsenal of words to astound and amaze your friends and colleges.
Wonderous Words.......2006-07-12
Peter Bowler is hilarious. As a confirmed logophile, I always laugh out loud when reading this and the subsequent books. The drawings are droll and perfect, illustrating with black humor.
And I DO use these words to confound, confront and confuse my public!
Buy this book and enjoy in private -- those viewing you crying with laughter may be tempted to put you in an oubliette!
AMS
If'n ya'll likes yer book lernin', then this here's a book fer you.......2005-12-16
Hoooooo weee, this here book sure is full of words--most of 'em nobody's never heard tell of. If you want to be highfalutin' and/or want to put on some airs, run right out and buy this darn thing.
You'll notice most of the other reviewers are showing how dang funny they are by usin' as many words from this book as they can fit in. See how dilly-dippin' smart they look? You can have people think yer smart too.
Just imagine that you are ringing up customers at Wal Mart and you could say something like "wow, four gallons of milk...you must have quite the galactophage on your hands" the customer will just stare at you, but you can bet it'll crack 'em up in the break room! Or when someone comes through your line buying both cookies and diet Coke you might say "I may need to get a price check on antipodes" What a knee-slapper!
If you can read, this book is fairly easy to get through--and if you can remember what you read you will have the ability to make anyone at any tractor pull, demolition derby or NASCAR race look like a dolt in comparison. After all, fun at other people's expense is the best fun you can have.
Very good book by Aussie author.......2004-12-23
I have enjoyed and used this book for many years. It is a marvellous source of strange, bizarre, obsolete and very useful words. The word 'facinorous' is probably one of the most useful - especially for describing modern right wing politicians and CEOs.
This book is not jejune in any way. Peter Bowler is one Australia's finest sons!
If only the pronunciation was included..........2004-11-14
I was thrilled when I found this book. I have enjoyed it immensely.
However, when learning new words to try out on friends, it strikes me that I'd like to be sure I'm pronouncing them correctly. Nothing like using a fabulous new word, only to mispronounce it. Peter, if you are out there - I'm faithfully awaiting a revision that includes the phonetic pronunciation of each word. Cheers!
Product Description
A dictionary for those who perceive a difference, a handbook for Superior Persons who love words.
Are you an Anglophile? (Stout fellow!) Just stand at this springboard and leave the fields of popinjay jabber and tongue-stumped battology behind forever! Step up for big dividends in the giddy heights of superior speech. Are you a rasorial searcher after words? Are nouns your bread? Adjectives your butter? Verbs your little salad? Adverbs your house dressing? Well, then, this is the book to shiver you futtocks! Put an end to fopdoodly speech; amaze your friends, baffle your enemies, write interoffice memos to end all discussion! Peter Bowler will teach you the practical riches of saying it well with good words, neglected words, precise words for vocabular exultation. A Superior Person is not defined by income, class, or sex. A Superior Person uses Superior Speech. And, if Aristotle's definition of art as something both entertaining and edifying is still toasted with glee, then there's art a-chock-a-block in Mr. Bowler's dictionary - a funny, useful, and elevating little book.
Customer Reviews:
fun.......2001-12-14
i thought this was gonna be the stuffy book of fancy words.... not so. it's really fun. i bought it for a friend, and read it first. enjoyed it.
Product Description
Like its predecessor, this useful, funny, and edifying little volume will give you the right words for any occasion. This second collection contains 600 outlandish (and thoroughly useful) words that will help readers, in the words of the author, "more readily assert a fitting ascendancy over their fellows at the traffic lights of life."
Customer Reviews:
An hilarious joy.......2006-09-17
I bought Peter Bowler's first "Superior Person's Little Book of Words" years ago, and read it so often that it fell apart. I bought another. Then came newer editions. Of all the "word books" to emerge in recent years ( and I've read many of them) this is written with the most wit and style. You might read through his book once, then you'll keep going back anytime you want a smile or a laugh. Not only does he love interesting and unusual words, he's damned funny writing about them, with hilarious examples of using them. I pray that this man keeps exploring the riches of our language, and writing about them!
I Reached Kalopsia* Within Minutes of Opening The Cover.......2006-03-29
I've read this book cover to cover and often use it for reference, so I obviously do like it very much. In fact, it's wonderful for casually spicing your next letter, story, or term paper with one or two words that you KNOW the reader will have to look up. It's also better than a dictionary because Bowler's "definitions" describe how each word is used conversationally, not just what it means. Furthermore, the words offered are good ones, neither too onerable nor too simple.
My only problem with this book is that for what it is, it's very overpriced. I hate to be a cheapskate, but for what you get, this should at most be $8. After all, it should also be indexed in the back to guide you to the "superior" words from the basic word or thought the reader is looking for. It's nice to learn that "Numinous" means "divine," for example, but why not list the word "divine" in an index with pages on which related words - like Numinous - appear? That would make it much easier to do the previously-mentioned "spicing."
So...I suggest you get the best of both worlds. Buy the book, because it's fun and educational and can make you look smarter, but buy it Used from one of the Amazon partner stores for the lower price that it deserves.
* An emotional state in which things appear to be more beautiful than they really are.
Are You A Gynotikolobomassophile?.......2005-01-12
I learned a lot from this wonderful book, which was a well-considered Christmas gift from my extremely exoptable best friend. One thing I learned is that I am rather devoted to gynotikolobomassophilia, as long as it is with the right person, of course! Unfortunately, on the down side, I occasionally suffer from bouts of onychophagy when under stress. (Sometimes I bite my nails.)
This book is an absolute treasure trove of exotic vocabulary. Prior to reading this book, I knew what maybe ten percent of these words meant. To say that I have been enlightened and broadened is somewhat of an understatement. I did not know, for instance, that "fabiform" means "bean-shaped." Likewise I was surprised to discover that "interbastation," which sounds positively naughty, actually means "quilting."
Also amusing to me is the discussion of the typeface, a normally boring affair. Perhaps one reason I liked this book so much is because it is set in Galliard, "a type of solid weight, it possesses authentic sparkle that is lacking in most current Garamonds."
This is a great book. The entries are universally witty and obscure, and will be sure to please the bibliophile in your life. I could not recommend this book more highly.
Fun, but not always wondrous.......1998-12-02
Bowler has compiled another interesting collection of words, with amusing commentary on them. While there is some repetition of common-root words (e.g., morology, morosis), and not all of these words seem particularly arcane (e.g., natatorium, zeitgeist), this book would be of use to the RUPTUARY aspiring to TAPINOSIS, and enjoyable for the rest of us.
Product Description
This special collection gathers into one affordable, attractive package all three of the invaluable volumes that comprise Mr. Bowler's timeless trilogy. The author's purpose in compiling these small, elegant, and edifying works is to give readers "a more finely tuned engine of the language they speak, so they may more readily assert their linguistic superiority over their fellow travelers at the traffic stops of life."
The Superior Person's Books of Words offers a panoply of 1,800 arcane but totally plausible words that neither you nor your loved ones has ever heard, plus textual advice on how to use them to confound your friends, irritate your enemies, and impress your superiors. There's yet more: anecdotes of eccentric scholars, the unbelievable and irrevocable mistakes of the rich and famous, examples of idiotic concepts, and further oddities and curiosities of the so-called intellectual life.
From The Superior Person's Book of Words:
Thelyphthoric: n. That which corrupts women. The author's sources do not, unfortunately, identify the object so described; if any reader has one, perhaps he would be kind enough to send it to the author, enclosed in a plain brown wrapper.
From The Superior Person's Second Book of Weird and Wondrous Words:
Catachresis: n. Misapplication of a word. In using the lore and learning contained in this book, you will undoubtedly be found guilty of this. In your defense, you can at least say (a) that you are aware of your lapse, and (b) that you know what it is called.
From The Superior Person's Third Book of Well-Bred Words:
Ustion: n. The act of setting fire to something, or the state of being set fire to. From the Latin ustus, past participle of urere, to burn. Pronounced "usch'n." Always to be preferred to its longer synonym, combustion.
Customer Reviews:
Not too seriously.......2007-01-03
This is a great book for lover's of vocabulary. As you can infer from the title, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and pokes fun at itself. It is a virtual treasure trove of wonderful nuanced words with clearly defined meanings, explained in a non-traditional, fun, and interesting way. Recommended.
Not a dictionary but lots of fun!.......2004-11-09
This box set includes the first, second and third books of words for the Superior Person. Each book contains a collection of unusual words arranged alphabetically with definitions and example sentences, many of which are humorous and a bit tongue-in-cheek. I love these books because they're easy to read in little snippets but entertaining enough to keep you occupied for longer periods of time.
Some of the words, especially in the first and second books, are not quite as rare and unusual as they might have been when the books were first written, and thus may not be quite as useful for impressing people and/or surreptitiously insulting them. The books also do not include pronunciation guides or etymologies; you'll have to go to a real dictionary for that. However, as an entertaining read for those who want to expand their vocabularies with some weird and wondrous words (or for those who have a lexicographer's sense of humor and are looking for a laugh), this box set is a wonderful gift.
Book Description
This book takes an inside look at the artists who created the Silver Age of comics. Based on dozens of interviews, this book carefully shows the development of the art of comic book storytelling from its roots in comic strips and the first generation of comic book artists in the Golden Age. Hundreds of pieces of original artwork illustrate the lengthy text.
Customer Reviews:
Good Addition to a Comics History Library.......2006-05-04
What makes this book are the reproductions of the original artwork, with all their smudges, whiteouts, and blue-pencilled corrections. In this way, "Silver Age" is reminiscent of an absolutely wonderful book on the history of comic strips called "Children of the Yellow Kid."
As another reviewer has remarked, Herman spends too much time singing the praises of Gil Kane. I suspect it's because Herman could find more original art of Kane than anyone else. I also disagree with Herman's assessments of some of the artists--for example, ho-humming the beautiful inks of Murphy Anderson. To me, Infantino and Anderson were the Lennon and McCartney of the Silver Age. Their work complemented each other perfectly, although you wouldn't guess that from what the artists had to say about each other.
But then this is MY opinion, no more valid than Herman's. And I don't reject a book because I disagree with it. The reason for my star rating is that I feel the book should have dealt a little less with Kane and with the history preceding the Silver Age and shown us more of the original artwork of the time.
Still, "Silver Age" is a valuable book to have around.
Thorough and interesting history of the Silver Age artist.......2005-11-09
This book has been generating an interesting buzz in the comic book world. Author Daniel Herman, who has written a biography of artist Gil Kane and edited a book of interviews about Kane is a well known authority on the art of the comics. His opinions though are not always politically correct with die hard comic book fans. This comes through in the book which is a fascinating and thorough history of the development of art and artists of comic books. The book traces the development of comic book art from the strips, through the Golden Age, to and through the Silver Age. The book coherently and rather entertainingly disucsses every artist of importance, and many who were peripheral. The list is extremely long and includes, in no particular order, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, Marie and John Severin, Wally Wood, Bill Everett, Gene Colan, John Romita, Russ Manning, Dan Speigle, Jerry Grandenetti, Irv Novick, Ross Andru, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, Joe Kurbert, Dan Barry, Alex Toth, Lee Elias, and a whole lot more.
The design of the book is excellant, most of the art used is from the originals and is beautifully reproduced. The art was pulled from a number of large collections and contains a number of real gems. All and all this is required reading for an fan of the artists of comics and belongs in every library.
A controversial history which really got me thinking.......2005-11-04
I just got through reading Silver Age and while I did not agree with all of the author's conclusions, the book was interesting, good reading, and very thoughtful. I read the last reviewer's comments and he couldn't be more wrong. The author of the book (Herman) finally explains how the great Silver Age artists were influenced by the great comic strip artists and that almost all of them apprenticed in the Golden Age shops. The book explains the developent of the art of comic books and shows great examples as well. The last reviewer, who is obviously just a "fanboy" just doesn't appreciate that this book, for the first time that I am aware of, explaints the history of the development of the art of comic books. The art is great, the book covers just about every artist in the fleld and gives us examples of their work. It is simply great to see the original artwork of many of these artists, and in color as well. One cavaet though, you have to read the book to enjoy it, something the last reviewer didn't do (by the way Herman does mention the Atomic Age on page 11 of the book and comments it is not a very descriptive or widely used). Highly recommended.
Barely scratches the Silver Age surface.......2005-10-17
For a book purporting to be about Silver Age art, this volume is fatally incomplete. This is essentially a vanity press publication, the author, Daniel Herman, being a comics fan publishing under his own "Hermes Press" imprint.
This in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but Herman's own predilections and interests seem to be responsible for the omissions, and inappropriate emphasis on non-Silver Age and trivial material found in this book.
A huge chunk of the book -- the first three chapters, almost 100 pages -- is given over to discussion and illustrations of pre-Silver Age strips and comics. Why? Hasn't this period been amply covered elsewhere?
Once we actually get into the Silver Age, we get some very nice examples of original art (some never before published, as far as I know) but again, the author's bias badly distorts the coverage.
Gil Kane, a wonderful artist and gifted storyteller, is given far too much coverage. Though his contribution to DC (Green Lantern, Atom) and to several Marvel titles in the '60s and '70s is genuinely significant, his work receives inordinate emphasis. In fact, the entire final chapter of the book is devoted to a little-known one-off black and white magazine Kane created in the late '60s called "His Name is Savage." It was a commercial flop, even as it attempted to broaden the audience for more "adult" (i.e., explicitly violent, non-Comics Code approved) comics, and it is barely a footnote in most comics histories.
I appreciate Herman's championing of Kane, but this is not the place for such blatant hagiography. Contrast the extensive coverage Kane receives with the paltry few pages given over to Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man, and one of the absolute giants of the Silver Age. Other important Marvel artists of the period, like John Romita, John Buscema, Jim Steranko, Barry Smith, John and Marie Severin, and Dick Ayers, are mentioned only in passing, with little or none of their art represented, save as small cover thumbnails.
It appears Herman's personal preferences (and the pieces in his personal collection of original art) are the real organizing principles of this books, not, as suggested in the title, any sort of overview of Silver Age art.
There are some puzzling minor errors. For example, Herman says inker George Roussos used the name "John Bell" at Marvel. Roussos inked under the name George Bell, not John Bell. Herman also claims the period between 1945 and 1956 has not been "named" by comics historians. Actually, the appellation "Atom Age" is pretty commonly used by comics fans, dealers and others. It seems odd that Herman would not know this.
Herman's coverage of the DC Silver Age is again horribly incomplete, but better than his coverage of Marvel. The original art examples by Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, Mike Sekowsky et al almost make up for it. There are some wonderful pages and covers from DC's heyday that are a joy to view, and savor.
Of the other companies mentioned in the book, there is one glaring oversight: ACG, the American Comics Group, is entirely absent. This small company published over a score of titles in the late '50s and early '60s, and are avidly collected today. "Adventures into the Unknown" and "Forbidden Worlds" both ran well over 100 issues before cancellation, and artists like Kurt Schaffenberger, Pete Constanza, Ogden Whitney and Chic Stone were favored contributors.
This book will be appreciated by hardcore comics fans, but it is too flawed and incomplete to be recommended as a general overview of Silver Age art.
Finally a definitive book about the Silver Age artists.......2005-04-14
I just got through reading Silver Age and it is a wonderful, in-depth history of how my favorite period in comic book history, the Silver Age, came about. For a long time I have been looking for a book that discussed all the artists and all the publishers of the Silver Age and this book does just that. This book also uses the original artwork so I can really get a look at what the artwork of Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert, Gil Kane, Carmine Infantino, Steve Ditko, John Romita, and many usually neglected artists like Don Heck, Bill Everett, Ramona Fradon, and Bruno Premiani, really looked like. Just a great book!
Average customer rating:
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Silver Age: The Second Generation of Comic Artists Limited Edition
Various
Manufacturer: Hermes Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1932563652 |
Book Description
The first definitve book about the art and artists of the Silver Age. Takes a comprehensive look at the development of comic book storytelling from 1945-1968, and all of the artists of the Silver Age, using numerous examples of rarely seen original artwork. Presents authoritative chapters on every publisher and the artists who toiled with pen and brush creating the Silver Age. Includes teh art of Dan Barry, Gene Colan, Steve Ditko, Ramona Fradon, Russ Heath, Carmine Infantino, Gill Kane, Jack Kirby, Bernie Krigstein, Joe Kubert, Harvey Kurtzman, Russ Manning, Bruno Premiani, John Rominta, John Severin, Marie Severin, Curt Swan, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Wally Wood, and many more.
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- Velazquez Spanish And English Dictionary Pocket Edition
- Vocabulary in Use : Intermediate (Without Answers)
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- Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (Shambhala Pocket Classics)
- 101 French Proverbs
- 2007 National Construction Estimator
- A Comprehensive Guide to Wheelock's Latin: Newly Revised for Wheelock's 6th Edition
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Books Index
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The Superior Person's Second Book of Weird and Wondrous Words
The Superior Person's Third Book of Well-Bred Words
The Highly Selective Dictionary For The Extraordinarily Literate
The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinarily Literate
The Lexicon: A Cornucopia of Wonderful Words for the Inquisitive Word Lover
