Word nerds, unite

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

A really enjoyable read, particularly for me as an English major who works in publishing. (Thinking about this, I'd say someone should write a similar book about The Chicago Manual of Style, but it doesn't have quite the same appeal or universality as a dictionary. But I would love it!) Author Stefan Fatsis is a sports journalist, but I remember him for Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players. In Unabridged: The Thrill of (and Threat to) the Modern Dictionary, he embeds himself at Merriam-Webster, tries to get some words added to the dictionary, and immerses himself in dictionary culture.

It's a fascinating book. Fatsis focuses mostly on Merriam-Webster and American dictionaries, but naturally Samuel Johnson's dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary come up quite a bit. Fatsis goes through the history of Merriam-Webster and the process for creating entries, some of which I was familiar with from having read multiple books (both fiction and nonfiction!) about the creation of the OED. The books is recent enough that Fatsis goes into depth about not only the effect of the Internet in general on dictionaries, but also AI and how it's progressed over the years and how dictionary publishers use social media to make money now that the sales of print dictionaries aren't what they were.

The book is also unabashedly political, which is interesting for a book about a dictionary. Fatsis goes into pronouns, including a lengthy discussion of the attempts and challenges to make gender-neutral pronouns happen (and, of course, the history of "they"). He writes about slurs and swears and the debate about how to include them in the dictionary, and how the definitions change over time. He discusses how politics affects language and evolution of words like "woke." 

There's also descriptions of dictionary collections and the groups who choose the word of the year and conferences for professionals and enthusiasts. Fatsis's description of the world of dictionaries is well-done, all around. Recommend for word nerds.

(Side note: I was consistently blown away every time Fatsis mentioned how much it cost to produce these things. There are times I hyperventilate a bit over the production costs of the books I work on [Don't pirate books, people! We spend a bunch of money to make them!]; the amount it takes to make an unabridged dictionary is...mind-boggling, though actually understandable. Clearly these companies are doing it for the greater good, and God bless them for it.)