This “marvelously absorbing” book is “a walk on the wild side of words and ventures into the zone where language and mathematics intersect” (San Jose Mercury News). A former Wall Street Journal reporter and NPR regular, Stefan Fatsis recounts his remarkable rise through the ranks of elite Scrabble players while exploring the game’s strange, potent hold over them—and him. At least thirty million American homes have a Scrabble set—but the game’s most talented competitors inhabit a sphere far removed from the masses of “living room players.” Theirs is a surprisingly diverse subculture whose stars include a vitamin-popping standup comic; a former bank teller whose intestinal troubles earned him the nickname “G.I. Joel”; a burly, unemployed African American from Baltimore’s inner city; the three-time national champion who plays according to Zen principles; and the author himself, who over the course of the book is transformed from a curious reporter to a confirmed Scrabble nut. Fatsis begins by haunting the gritty corner of a Greenwich Village park where pickup Scrabble games can be found whenever weather permits. His curiosity soon morphs into compulsion, as he sets about memorizing thousands of obscure words and fills his evenings with solo Scrabble played on his living room floor. Before long he finds himself at tournaments, socializing—and competing—with Scrabble’s elite. But this book is about more than hardcore Scrabblers, for the game yields insights into realms as disparate as linguistics, psychology, and mathematics. Word Freak extends its reach even farther, pondering the light Scrabble throws on such notions as brilliance, memory, competition, failure, and hope. It is a geography of obsession that celebrates the uncanny powers locked in all of us, “a can’t-put-it-down narrative that dances between memoir and reportage” (Los Angeles Times). “Funny, thoughtful, character-rich, unchallengeably winning writing.” —The Atlantic Monthly This edition includes a new afterword by the author.
... deals made with a drunken person violate the informed consent rule and are immoral. how ... morally accountable for his action(s) if the action(s) 4.
That body is whole because it is a thinking ( Mabel Todd's ) and conceptualizing body . ... Both processes have to deal with the idea of beauty in dance ...
K. Schrier and D. Gibson (Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2010), pp. 239–261). 15. Becker, “Choosing and Using Games in the Classroom.” 16. For further information, see D. Simkins, “Assessing Video Games for Learning,” Learning, ...
Leonardo Music Journal 14 : 97-104 . Gibbs , M. R. , K. Hew , and G. Wadley . 2004. Social Translucence of the Xbox Live Voice Channel . In Entertainment Computing , ed . M. Rauterberg . 377–385 . Berlin : Springer - Verlag Gibson ...
Production Staff Lead Editor : J. L. France Copy Editors : Cover Design : Irene , Alphonse & Manfred Additional Concepts One on One Graphics Carolyn Porter Page Design : Cover Credits DuckTalesTM and © 1991 The Disney Company .
C rossword lovers will welcome this second volume of clever, challenging puzzles by David Levinson Wilk.
Fill the coffee cup, find a pencil, and grab a chair: it’s time to solve some crosswords! What a great way to take a break, relax, and give the brain a fun challenge, too.
Levinson was a prominent member of the Detroit - area “ gambling fraternity . ” He collaborated with Samuel Garfield , a Midwest betting and gambling operator and friend of Moe Dalitz.26 Levinson's two brothers , Mike and Louis ...
This collection includes the updated edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, with a new foreword from J.K. Rowling (writing as Newt Scamander) and six new beasts!
21445-1 Paperbound $ 2.50 THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF Oz , L. Frank Baum . America's finest children's book in facsimile of first edition with all Denslow illustrations in full color . The edition a child should have .