{"title":"Ammon Shea","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"reading-the-oed-book-ammon-shea-9780399535055","title":"Reading the OED","description":"An obsessive word lover's account of reading the entire \u003ci\u003eOxford English Dictionary\u003c\/i\u003e, hailed as \"the \u003ci\u003eSuper Size Me\u003c\/i\u003e of lexicography.\"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"I'm reading the \u003ci\u003eOED\u003c\/i\u003e so you don't have to,\" says Ammon Shea on his slightly masochistic journey to scale the word lover's Mount Everest: the \u003ci\u003eOxford English Dictionary\u003c\/i\u003e. In 26 chapters filled with sharp wit, sheer delight, and a documentarian's keen eye, Shea shares his year inside the \u003ci\u003eOED\u003c\/i\u003e, delivering a hair-pulling, eye-crossing account of reading every word.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49535812501777,"sku":"GOR004344384","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49616727539985,"sku":"CIN0399535055G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51830640902417,"sku":"CIN0399535055VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52933704974609,"sku":"GOR005996251","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0399535055.jpg?v=1751071499"},{"product_id":"reading-the-oxford-english-dictionary-book-ammon-shea-9781846141980","title":"Reading the Oxford English Dictionary","description":"'If you are interested in vocabulary that is both spectacularly useful and beautifully useless, read on. I have read the \"OED\" so you don't have to!' Weighing in at 137 pounds, the \"Oxford English Dictionary\" is the word lover's Everest and the world's most exhaustive and exhausting dictionary - for instance, there are over 60,000 words on the various meanings of set and un- goes on for 451 pages. Like a lexicographical Edmund Hillary, Ammon Shea set out to boldly read, where no reader has gone before - from cover to cover.\"Reading the OED\" gives a very funny account of his coffee-fuelled twelve months lost inside its 20 volumes. Divided into 26 chapters, one per letter of the alphabet, this book is part personal narrative (exploring everything from love to glasses to the superiority of books over computers) and part a collection of Shea's favourite discoveries. These span from the oddly useful (parabore - a defence against bores) to the downright bizarre (natiform - shaped like buttocks) and takes in Nashe's eight different kinds of drunkenness and all kinds of other strangely memorable information along the way. Filled with curiosities, delights and surprises, \"Reading the OED\" is a feast for language obsessives, from a man who loves words (perhaps a little too much).","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49550993817873,"sku":"GOR001109256","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51241630105873,"sku":"GOR003009477","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1846141982.jpg?v=1751454851"},{"product_id":"bad-english-book-ammon-shea-9780399165580","title":"Bad English","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe author of \u003ci\u003eReading the OED\u003c\/i\u003e presents an eye-opening look at language \"mistakes\" and how they came to be accepted as correct-or not.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usage. 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Filled with historic and contemporary examples, the book chronicles the long and entertaining history of language mistakes, and features some of our most common words and phrases, including-\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Decimate\u003cbr\u003e Hopefully\u003cbr\u003e Enormity\u003cbr\u003e That\/which\u003cbr\u003e Enervate\/energize\u003cbr\u003e Bemuse\/amuse\u003cbr\u003e Literally\/figuratively\u003cbr\u003e Ain't Irregardless\u003cbr\u003e Socialist\u003cbr\u003e OMG\u003cbr\u003e Stupider\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Lively, surprising, funny, and delightfully readable, this is a book that will settle arguments among word lovers-and it's sure to start a few, too.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49553251631377,"sku":"GOR013667530","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49583547646225,"sku":"GOR008701937","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50095272296721,"sku":"CIN0399165584G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51002111066385,"sku":"NIN9780399165580","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51415798382865,"sku":"CIN0399165584VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52489304539409,"sku":"NLS9780399165580","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0399165584.jpg?v=1750878677"},{"product_id":"reading-the-oed-book-ammon-shea-9780399533983","title":"Reading the OED","description":"An obsessive word lover's account of reading the entire \u003ci\u003eOxford English Dictionary\u003c\/i\u003e, hailed as the \u003ci\u003eSuper Size Me\u003c\/i\u003e of lexicography. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eI'm reading the \u003ci\u003eOED\u003c\/i\u003e so you don't have to, says Ammon Shea on his slightly masochistic journey to scale the word lover's Mount Everest: the \u003ci\u003eOxford English Dictionary\u003c\/i\u003e. 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With his signature combination of humor, curiosity, and passion for combing the dustbins of history, Shea offers readers a guided tour into the surprising, strange, and often hilarious history of the humble phone book.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e From the first printed version in 1878 (it had fifty listings and no numbers) to the phone book's role in presidential elections, Supreme Court rulings, Senate filibusters, abstract art, subversive poetry, circus sideshows, criminal investigations, mental-health diagnoses, and much more, this surprising volume reveals a rich and colorful story that has never been told-until now.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50350119026961,"sku":"CIN0399535934G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51002110968081,"sku":"NIN9780399535932","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52126501634321,"sku":"NLS9780399535932","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0399535934.jpg?v=1751358444"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-ammon-shea.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}