I have a problem with the word amazing. Also, fantastic. I use them far too often, especially in my book reviews. I’ve tried countless thesauri (or thesauruses, if you prefer), but I still find those bland, over-used adjectives in my sentences, dulling phrases that should be sharp. Imagine my excitement when a customer introduced me to Better Than Great: a Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives, by Arthur Plotnik. (The program I’m writing this on doesn’t recognize two of the words in that title as part of the English language…I’ll let you guess which). Plotnik hates the words amazing, great, and fantastic so much that he launched a revolution against them, which takes the form of a very unique thesaurus containing only superlatives. If you’re feeling skeptical, just look at a few of my recent reviews, before and after I discovered this book:
Before: George R. Martin’s Game of Thrones is amazing, featuring fantastic plotting and scenes of heart-pounding adventure and swordplay.
After: George R. Martin’s Game of Thrones is resplendent, featuring brilliantly dexterous plotting and scenes of blood-bleaching adventure and swordplay.
Before: The Borrower is an odd, beautiful love letter to great books, a novel sure to appeal to teachers, librarians and passionate readers of all stripes.
After: The Borrower is a singular, rhapsodic love letter to great books, a novel sure to appeal to teachers, librarians and obsessive readers of all stripes.
My sentences will never be the same!
—Kat
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
RESPLENDENT! I love it!
Hi, Kat,
Your discovering my book unleashed a flood of dopamine to my pleasure center. Thank you for the kind comments. One word of caution I offer to all readers of BETTER THAN GREAT: Don’t overdo it. One set-your-hair-on-fire superlative goes a long way.
With wallopingly good wishes,
Art Plotnik