Logorrhea: Good Words Make Good Stories“Delightful . . . A treat for dictionary hounds and vocabulary-challenged word lovers everywhere.”—Booklist For most of us, these prizewinning spelling bee words would be difficult to pronounce, let alone spell. We asked twenty-one of today’s most talented and inventive writers to go even further and pen an original tale inspired by one of dozens of obscure and fascinating championship words. The result is Logorrhea—a veritable dictionary of the weird, the fantastic, the haunting, and the indefinable that will have you spellbound from the very first page. Including twenty-one stories and the inscrutable words that inspired them: Chiaroscuro: “The Chiaroscurist” by Hal Duncan Lyceum: “Lyceum” by Liz Williams Vivisepulture: “Vivisepulture” by David Prill Eczema: “Eczema” by Clare Dudman Sacrilege, Semaphore: “Semaphore” by Alex Irvine Smaragdine: “The Smaragdine Knot” by Marly Youmans Insouciant: “A Portrait in Ivory” by Michael Moorcock Cambist: “The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics” by Daniel Abraham Logorrhea: “Logorrhea” by Michelle Richmond Pococurante: “Pococurante” by Anna Tambour Autochthonous: “From Around Here” by Tim Pratt Vignette: “Vignette” by Elizabeth Hand Sycophant: “Plight of the Sycophant” by Alan DeNiro Elegiacal: “The Last Elegy” by Matthew Cheney Eudaemonic: “Eudaemonic” by Jay Caselberg Macerate: “Softer” by Paolo Bacigalupi Transept: “Crossing the Seven” by Jay Lake Psoriasis: “Tsuris” by Leslie What Euonym: “The Euonymist” by Neil Williamson Dulcimer: “Singing of Mount Abora” by Theodora Goss Appoggiatura: “Appoggiatura” by Jeff VanderMeer “This book is a logophile’s dream—a left-field collection of stories inspired by winning words from the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Anyone who has ever spent an hour or two happily browsing the pages of a dictionary will find something to love here.”—Kevin Brockmeier, author of A Brief History of the Dead |
Contents
| 1 | |
Lyceum by Liz Williams | 29 |
The Smaragdine Knot | 108 |
A Portrait in Ivory | 122 |
From Around Here | 195 |
Vignette by Elizabeth Hand | 222 |
The Last Elegy by Matthew Cheney | 249 |
Eudaemonie by Jay Caselberg | 273 |
Softer by Paolo Bacigalupi | 287 |
Crossing the Seven by Jay Lake | 303 |
Tsuris by Leslie What | 343 |
The Euonymist by Neil Williamson | 360 |
Singing of Mount Abora | 376 |
Appoggiatura by Jeff VanderMeer | 396 |
Common terms and phrases
7-Eleven Abora Anders Andrea angels antesanctum asked Baphomet Big Jim blackstar body Brooder Matheus called Calum Cermalus chiton Cispius close Cloud Dragon D-jiva dark dead door Duality dulcimer dybbuk Eczema Elric eyes face Fader Fagutal feel felt fingers girl green Grete hair HAL DUNCAN hand head hear inside Iosef Ironpants JEFF VANDERMEER Kamora knew laughed leaned Leutherion light live LIZ WILLIAMS looked Lord Eichan Lord Iron Melniboné Michael mind morning mother Moynec never night nodded Olaf Osmio paint palace Pococurante Psoriasis pulled queen seemed semaphore sitting skin Smaragdine smell smile someone stared Sterope stone stood stopped street sure talk Taygete tell THEODORA GOSS There's thing thought TIM PRATT told took Transept turned voice walked wall wanted watching window woman wondered words
Popular passages
Page x - Purim 1964 luge 1985 milieu 1986 odontalgia 1987 staphylococci 1988 elegiacal 1989 spoliator 1990 fibranne 1991 antipyretic 1992 lyceum 1993 kamikaze 1994 antediluvian 1995 xanthosis 1996 vivisepulture 1997 euonym 1998 chiaroscurist 1999 logorrhea 2000 demarche 2001 succedaneum 2002 prospicience...