There's always someone cooler (or more well-read) than you

My thanks go out to Ben Folds for the title

In the "Etc. Confession" post, I mentioned how there exists a book called Et Cetera, Et Cetera: Notes of a Word-Watcher about the etymology of language. I have not read this book, but I have read others about language and linguistics, and I recommend them below.

The Language Instinct - Steven Pinker

Word and Rules - Steven Pinker

(For the record, I have not read all Steven Pinker or completed the above books, but he seems like one of those people that makes you feel good about the fact that he's smarter than you, and feel glad that he's smarter than you. Kind of like the late Carl Sagan. "I'll never be as smart as these people, and that's okay" (please say in your best Stuart Smalley voice).)

Eats, Shoots & Leaves - Lynne Truss - more about grammar, not linguisitics, but still fun.

Woe Is I - Patricia O'Connor - also more about grammar, but addresses linguistics, and still fun.

cunt - Inga Muscio - explores the etymology of a single, often vitriolic, word. Can be didactic at times, but still quite interesting and liberating (and this coming from a male).

The Story of Language - Mario Pei - a bit dated. I read about half of the book, before I got interested in something else (ADD-reading habits strike again). I was introduced to this book through the omniverous and omnieruditic The Primary Colors by Alexander Theroux: more on him below.

Tractatus Logico Philosophicus - Ludwig Wittgenstein - Man, was this guy an asshole! But, oh what a gloriously intelligent asshole he was.

Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language - amazing read. A tour de force. Dense plot, such heart-breaking characters. And funny! I couldn't contain my laughter on the subway when I was reading this book. Webster writes with the heart of a man who has seen it all, the brain of a man who has known it all, and the good humour of the man who embraces it all for what it is.

There are many others, but... Alexander Theroux

Just as Steven Pinker and Carl Sagan are people who will always be smarter than we are, and Ben Folds, Chris Isaak, and others will always be cooler than we are, so Alexander Theroux will always be more well-read than we are.

Alexander Theroux is the author of a few novels, and the essay books The Primary Colors and The Secondary Colors. These books deal respectively with the primary colors (blue, red, yellow), and the secondary colors (green, orange, purple): I'm not sure if that's the orderof the chapters, and although I have the books sitting six feet away on my bookshelf, I'm too busy writing to get up and find out the exact chapter order of each book. Anyway, this is where I was introduced to The Story of Language mentioned above. And, if you don't want to read these insanely trivia omnivorous books, but doubt my claim that you will never have read as much as this man, read here:

Why Alexander Theroux is smarter than I am

Anyway, I could go on but I need to pack for vacation:























Au revoir---