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The Describer's Dictionary: A Treasury of Terms and Literary Quotations | 
 enlarge | Author: David Grambs
Publisher: W. W. Norton Company
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy Used: $6.25
You Save: $10.70 (63%)
New (27) Used (17) from $6.25
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 94330
Media: Paperback
Pages: 412
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1
ISBN: 0393312658
Dewey Decimal Number: 423.1
EAN: 9780393312652
ASIN: 0393312658
Publication Date: August 1995
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Product Description
Ever found yourself grasping in vain for that ideal descriptive word lost somewhere within the misty recesses of your vocabulary? Or felt frustrated that an oddly shaped structure or pretty setting you wished to portray in writing didn't quite translate clearly to paper? If you've ever stalled trying to depict the look of an object or animal or the looks of a particular person, The Describer's Dictionary is exactly the book you need. Open it, and you have not only just the right words but - bringing them to life - stellar literary examples of descriptive writing as well. The Dictionary concerns itself with the observable, from discrete shapes and patterns to buildings, terrain, furry and unfurry creatures, and human beings. "Referably" organized, the book uses a handy reverse, definition-to-term format that makes it easy for you to zero in on the term or terms you're seeking. For example, for a word that denotes an object's proper or harmonious dimensions, flip to the "Shapes" category and there you'll find "proportional", "proportionate", "commensurate", and "eurythmic". In some instances, where meanings are self-evident, simple listings of apt words are provided. As an inspiration to any writer - showing how it's done by the best - hundreds of colorful and evocative descriptive passages appear on facing pages, making this a singularly and richly different kind of reference book. The quotations are first-rate examples of how the book's terminology can be used. The excerpts are drawn from the best American and British novelists, naturalists, and other nonfiction writers, from Dickens to Updike, from Darwin to McPhee. The Describer's Dictionary - uniquely focused on the physical and freeof the categorical and multiple-meaning confusions of a thesaurus - is a must for anyone wanting to have at hand just the right words to describe exactly what is being observed or depicted. Within these covers you will find the answers to such questions as: What is the adjective for something shaped like a keyhole? How many words are there that mean silvery white in color? What do you call a treeless plain, or a lake situated in a mountain basin? What features of an animal are important to keep in mind in describing it? What is a woman's conical coil of hair worn at the back of the neck called? The craft of description lives not only in great literature but in conversation, journalism, and personal letters written every day. For help in painting pictures with the English language, The Describer's Dictionary is one of the most indispensable reference tools you could own.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 A treasure -- with some awkward stumbles May 22, 2005
gunngirl (Chicago, Illinois USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is an excellent reference book and I use it every time I write. I don't believe you have to be 'low class' if you need this, as some reviewers pointed out, but some of the excerpts used are outdated and useless in today's writing world. Sure, Hawthorne, Fitzgerald and the like were wonderful writers, and we can learn, but we don't write like that today. Also, there are some words that would just sound out of place or stupid when used. He has things grouped in chapters. ( Ears, looks with eyes, colors, shapes, hairstyles, etc.) For example, he has a chapter on "Eyes" but some of the excerpts don't always match up to descriptions about "Eyes", what's up with that? HOWEVER, there are times you might need a word or two, something that escapes you, or a way to describe a look, or feeling, or texture or shape and that's where this book comes in handy. I think if you have problems with description, this can really help.
 Technical: Utterly Lacking in Creative Invention July 12, 2003
K Culbertson (Greensboro, North Carolina USA)
26 out of 45 found this review helpful
How about this for the sole entry under having turned in feet: pigeon-toed? The entire volume is filled with inanities of this type. One would have to be pretty low on the vocabulary food chain to be incapable of readily summoning to mind almost any of the synonyms listed in this book. Also, the quotations sacrifice the sublime for the politically correct, and are therefore equally lacking in excellence. Don't buy it unless you are in the lower 20% of the populace in verbal facility, for you will be wasting your money.
 Purely physical February 13, 2003
31 out of 32 found this review helpful
Lots of fun and useful for physical descriptions of animal, vegetable and mineral. Not appropriate for writers looking for inspiration in abstracts, emotions or thought.
a useful book, but not perfect July 22, 2002
Kirk McElhearn (A village in the French Alps)
27 out of 27 found this review helpful
This is a very useful book, containing brief excerpts from literary works on the left-hand pages, and lists of words broken down in categories on the right. It is interesting both to read - the excerpts are all excellent examples of descriptive writing - and to find the right word. However, I don't give it 5 stars because it has no index. To find a word, you need to look first to the chapter (main categories) then read through all the sub-categories.
Better then a Thesaurus--By Far March 4, 2002
Carolyn Howard-Johnson (Los Angeles, CA USA)
51 out of 52 found this review helpful
The reason I like this reference so much is that if I don't find exactly what I'm looking for, I may very well find something I like better. Further, this is the kind of reference you can actually read. Open this book to any chapter (segment) on, say, "hair." You'll find several quotes about "hair" that are entertaining and may stir your own creative juices before you even get to the part that lists adjectives for all kinds of-- ahem-- tresses, locks, strands, shocks, hanks, coils, tendrils, curls, ringlets or swirls...As you can see, this offering gives an author an idea of how the best might have handled the same problem she faces. Many are mightily amusing.brIf you don't just keep reading instead of handling the problem at hand, you might eventually find adjectives for some 96 possible "hair situations" and one of them will likely be exactly what you need. br br There are usually several descriptive words under each entry. So for "oiled hair" you will find, "greased, slicked, slick, pomaded , brilliantined, plastered, pasted." You can choose one, let one speak to you so you can come up with a simile or metaphor, or move on down the list to see if there's something more to your liking.pWhen I get into a writing snit, it's often this book to my rescue.pCarolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"
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