Word Wizard: Super Bloopers, Rich Reflections, and Other Acts of Word Magic

by Richard Lederer

After a multi-decade career of stimulating readers to appreciate and laugh at the glories and oddities of our English language, beloved language maven Richard Lederer has collected his very best and most popular pieces in Word Wizard . In this career-capping anthology the reader will find essays that enlighten, inspire, and tickle the funny bone.

From his hilarious bloopers to his hymns of praise to the English language, these essays are the brightest gems of a storied career. Word Wizard includes a new introduction, prefaces for each essay, sprightly verse, and material never before published in Leader's language books. With classic chapters such as "The World According to Student Bloopers," "English Is a Crazy Language," and "The Case for Short Words," and shiny new essays such as "The Way We Word" and "Add Wealth to Your Vocabulary," Word Wizard is sure to delight language lovers and Lederer fans everywhere.

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 2006

About the author

Richard Lederer is the author of more than 35 books about language, history, and humor, including his best-selling Anguished English series and his current book, The Gift of Age. He has been profiled in magazines as diverse as The New Yorker, People, and the National Enquirer and frequently appears on radio as a commentator on language. He has been named International Punster of the Year and Toastmasters International's Golden Gavel winner.

He is the father of author and poet Katy Lederer and poker players Howard Lederer and Annie Duke.

Reviews

[Beth Cato · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been a huge fan of Lederer's humorous compilations for some 15 years now. His books like Anguished English and Bride of Anguished English are keepers for my shelf. He's most famous for his collected World According to Student Bloopers, which is probably one of the most mass-emailed pieces of humor to grace the internet.

This book does include a slightly updated version of "World," but I found the cover blurb to be somewhat misleading. Humor isn't the focus of this book. Instead, the majority of the essays are on language and word play. There is some funny stuff intermixed, and some of the essays were downright fascinating ("How I Write" and "Literature Lives!"). Others dragged on for me. I enjoy a good pun or word play, but page after page? It gets tedious.

While this book wasn't quite what I was expecting--a sort of "Best Of" of his humor--it was an okay read, and one that language-lovers, writers, and English teachers will likely enjoy.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Words. Words. So many words. Many of them fun. Lederer put words into perspective with a witty, humorous verbosity. How he knows so many words (and their derivations and meanings), I'll never know, but I'm glad he shares. Fun, informative book. Not much of a plot, though.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a self-described "word nerd", this book had some really interesting parts. That said, I found it held my interest unevenly. Compelling and thought provoking at times but dull and a bit tedious at others. I read it straight through but it may be better picking and choosing.

[Carol Blakeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Word humor is my favorite!

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good if you're interested in the English language--boring if you're not.