Better Than Great
A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives

Name: Better Than Great
Brand: Blackstone Audiobooks
Availability: InStock
Author: Arthur Plotnik
ISBN: 9781620640272

Author: Arthur Plotnik

Narrator: Richard Waterhouse

Unabridged: 6 hr 27 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Published: 08/01/2012

Categories: Nonfiction, Language Arts, Reference

Synopsis

A veritable ‘TKO of terminology,’ Better Than Great is the essential guide for describing the extraordinary—the must-have reference for anyone wishing to rise above tired superlatives. Deft praise encourages others to feel as we do, share our enthusiasms. It rewards deserving objects of admiration. It persuades people to take certain actions. It sells things. Sadly, in this ‘age of awesome,’ our words and phrases of acclaim are exhausted, all but impotent. Even so, we find ourselves defaulting to such habitual choices as ‘good,’ ‘great,’ and ‘terrific,’ or stock synonyms that tumble out of a thesaurus—‘superb,’ ‘marvelous,’ ‘outstanding,’ and the like. The piling on of intensifiers such as ‘totally’ only makes matters worse, while negative modifiers (‘incredible,’ ‘unreal’) render our common parlance nearly tragic. Until now. Not to mince words, wunderkind of word-wonks Arthur Plotnik is proffering a well-knit wellspring of worthy and wondrous words to rescue our worn-down usage. Plotnik is both hella and hecka up to the task of rescuing the English superlative, offering readers the chance never to be at a loss for words of praise and acclamation!

About Richard Waterhouse

Richard Waterhouse is an actor, teacher, director, and producer who is featured in the Hallmark Christmas classic Moonlight and Mistletoe and the independent feature Karl Rove, I Love You. He lives with his partner in Newbury, Vermont.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeff

Better than great deals with the problem of over-used words. Tired of great, unbelievable, and sublime? This book will provide creative and sometimes strange alternatives you won’t find in your thesaurus. Plotnik deals with the general problem of praise inflation. Not everything can be great or unbe......more

Goodreads review by K.M.

Arthur Plotnik has long been one of my favorite wits in the writing world. His depth-plumbing columns and articles in The Writer magazine were always among those I clipped for rereading, and I was sorry to see him retire from the post a year or two ago. So, naturally, I was tap dancing with exciteme......more

Quotes

“Zestfully written, this…reviviscent, wordy fun is to be read as well as consulted, and what gonzo joy awaits language lovers as Plotnik serves up high-fiveable hot sauce for the brain.”
Booklist (Starred review)

“Do you feel…sometimes that you’re stuck on a couple of words, unable to move beyond them? Well then, we have the book for you!”
Robin Young, host of WBUR’s Here and Now

“Arthur Plotnik is a masterly expert on the use and the writing of the English language…a master of superlatives.”
Milt Rosenberg, host of WGN Radio’s Extension 720

“Whether you use this book…when stuck for a thwackingly good superlative or…to turbocharge your vocabulary,…you’ll find the…industrial-strength verbal inventiveness that you’re seeking.”
Writer magazine

“Well-written, and engaging…All readers will…find it supremely fascinating to learn of the terms…to express greatness.”
ForeWord

“An energetic escape from the literary languor that enwreathes writers and speakers addicted to stale adjectives.”
College & Research Library News

“It’s difficult to describe how a thesaurus is entertaining, but the author has managed it. From the sheer number of quality adjectives, I imagine I would find one in this terrific—scratch that—frabjous compendium.”
Portland Book Review

“What could be as fabulous, stupendous, showstopping, socko-boffo, and epiphanic as this neatly organized, humorous yet helpful ‘acclamatory hoard’ of words for praising?”
Jim Higgins, book editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“Plotnik’s ‘acclamatory hoard’ is every bit as entertaining as it is useful. And (to lift one phrase) that ain’t exactly chopped herring, considering it gives this critic some six thousand substitutes for feeble old amazing and its ilk.”
Bruce Ingram, film and entertainment critic, Sun-Times Media / Pioneer Press

Awards

Independent Publisher Award