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Also by Ammon Shea:

Bad English, June 2014
Hardcover / e-Book
The Phone Book, October 2010
Hardcover
Reading the OED, July 2008
Hardcover

READING THE OED
By: Ammon Shea

One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages

Perigee Trade
July 2008
On Sale: July 2, 2008
240 pages
ISBN: 0399533982
EAN: 9780399533983
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir

An obsessive word lover?s account of reading the Oxford English Dictionary cover to cover.

?I?m reading the OED so you don?t have to. If you are interested in vocabulary that is both spectacularly useful and beautifully useless, read on...?

So reports Ammon Shea, the tireless, word-obsessed, and more than slightly masochistic author of Reading the OED. The word lover?s Mount Everest, the OED has enthralled logophiles since its initial publication 80 years ago. Weighing in at 137 pounds, it is the dictionary to end all dictionaries.

In 26 chapters filled with sharp wit, sheer delight, and a documentarian?s keen eye, Shea shares his year inside the OED, delivering a hair-pulling, eye-crossing account of reading every word, and revealing the most obscure, hilarious, and wonderful gems he discovers along the way.

Media Buzz

Morning Edition - September 10, 2008
Morning Edition - August 8, 2008