Reference

"It's undeniably thrilling to find words for our strangest feelings...Koenig casts light into lonely corners of human experience...An enchanting book. " --The Washington Post

A truly original book in every sense of the word, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows poetically defines emotions that we all feel but don't have the words to express--until now.

Have you ever wondered about the lives of each person you pass on the street, realizing that everyone is the main character in their own story, each living a life as vivid and complex as your own? That feeling has a name: "sonder." Or maybe you've watched a thunderstorm roll in and felt a primal hunger for disaster, hoping it would shake up your life. That's called "lachesism." Or you were looking through old photos and felt a pang of nostalgia for a time you've never actually experienced. That's "anemoia."

If you've never heard of these terms before, that's because they didn't exist until John Koenig set out to fill the gaps in our language of emotion. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows "creates beautiful new words that we need but do not yet have," says John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars. By turns poignant, relatable, and mind-bending, the definitions include whimsical etymologies drawn from languages around the world, interspersed with otherworldly collages and lyrical essays that explore forgotten corners of the human condition--from "astrophe," the longing to explore beyond the planet Earth, to "zenosyne," the sense that time keeps getting faster.

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is for anyone who enjoys a shift in perspective, pondering the ineffable feelings that make up our lives. With a gorgeous package and beautiful illustrations throughout, this is the perfect gift for creatives, word nerds, and human beings everywhere.

Publication on September 12, 2023 is timed to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the opening of Costco's first warehouse. By that time, David & Susan plan to have visited at least one warehouse in 46 US states and 13 other countries, and will have completed a cross-country Costco-themed road trip from Yonkers, New York to Yorba Linda, California, stopping to visit their favorite retailer along the way.

Topics are covered in a whimsical A to Z format, using Q & A to cover topics ranging from Cashews and Chicken to Hot Dogs and Hawaii, targeted to delight the more than 120 million Costco members and over 300,000 dedicated Costco employees. There is a Prologue that describes how the authors came to write the book and an introduction that provides a narrative history of Costco and its predecessor companies.

Sample Fun Facts:

Newly Revised & Updated! The Eleventh Edition of America's Best-Selling Dictionary defines the current, active vocabulary of American English and is updated on an ongoing basis. Features more than 225,000 definitions and over 42,000 usage examples. Includes newly added words and meanings across a variety of fields including technology, entertainment, health, science, and society.

Special sections include A Handbook of Style, Foreign Words and Phrases, Biographical Names, and Geographical Names.

New words include: bestie, truther, Bitcoin, listicle, binge-watch, ransomware, takeaway, woke, hack, clickbait, and immersive.

Includes a free one-year online subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged.com.

The 2016 edition of our best-selling dictionary covering core vocabulary with new words added from a variety of fields.

More than 75,000 updated definitions, pronunciations, word origins, synonym lists, and over 8,000 usage examples to aid understanding--more than ever before. Useful tables and special sections on Foreign Words & Phrases, Biographical Names, and Geographical Names.

New words added include: bromance, hashtag, and carbon footprint.