Robert Alden Rubin

Subtitle: An Illustrated Dictionary of Modern Malapropisms

A thorough non-academic dictionary of malapropisms and eggcorns. (An eggcorn is a malapropism that have a sort of semantic logic, like feeble position.)

The book isn't meant to poke fun at the people who might have written a malapropism, but to serve as a reference of sorts, for those who love language and the different ways it can be shaped, especially accidentally.

Entries are alphabetical, include known variants, possible theories show more as to how they came to be, examples, and dated citations of sightings on the web.

Lightly amusing and a celebration of the funny side of English, I had a good giggle paging through the entries. show less

A very enjoyable, inspirational, consistently well-written, fast read. I'm a big Bill Bryson fan, but this story of the AT experience is so much better. Highly recommended.

The editor has chosen a well-rounded collection, which includes everything from Shakespeare to rap music to a selection from the Bible. Commentary on the poem is clever and pertinent, and explanatory notes & definitions are unobtrusive and kept to a minimum. Well-done!

Meh.  Rubin's taste and mine don't mesh.  These poems aren't, actually, very easy to read aloud effectively, and insufficient guidance is given.  I do want to write more clerihews (I'd forgotten about that form).  I did like The Heaven of Animals" by James Dickey and do want to read more by him."