Even the Wicked：A Matthew Scudder Novel

Despitethemanythousandsofdictionarywordsatourdisposal,ourlanguagecanbedismayinglyinadequate.Howmanytimeshaveyousearchedforawordthatmeansjustwhatyouwantittobutfailedtofindanythingsuitableanywhere?Mostofus,itturnsout,leadlivesrifewithexperiences,people,andthingsthathavenonames.Atleast,theylackednamesuntilnow.WordFugitivescomestotherescue,supplyinghundredsofinspiredwordscoinedorredefinedtomeeteverydayneeds.Forinstance,wouldn'titbehandytohaveawordforthemomentaryconfusionpeopleexperiencewhentheyhearacellphoneringingandwonderwhetherit'stheirs?(Howaboutfauxcellarm,phonundrum,orpandephonium?)Orwhataboutawordforoffspringwhoareadults?(Tryunchildrenoroffsprung.)Orawordfortheirrationalfearwhenyou'rethrowingapartythatnoonewillshowup?(Thatmightbeguestlessness,empty-festsyndrome,orfete-alism.)Thismind-andvocabulary-expandingbookgrewout—wayout—ofBarbaraWallraff'spopularcolumninTheAtlanticMonthly.Brimmingwithirresistiblediversionsandpopquizzes;illuminatedbycontributionsandcommentaryfromauthors,linguists,andleadinglanguageauthorities;andenlivenedbypleasforhelpfrompeoplewhosewordshaveyettobefound,WordFugitiveswillcaptivateandinspireanyonewhoeverstrugglestodescribetheworldthatheorshe,orthey,orthon(thon?seepage141)livesin.