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Sign up todayBetter Than Great
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Learn moreA 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!
Arthur Plotnik is a versatile author with a distinguished background in editing and publishing. Two of his works have been featured as Book-of-the-Month Club selections: The Elements of Editing and The Elements of Expression. He has written scores of magazine articles and columns, nonfiction books, short stories, and poems. His work has appeared in publications ranging from Playboy to the New York Times and Los Angeles Times.
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
“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.”
“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!”
“Arthur Plotnik is a masterly expert on the use and the writing of the English language…a master of superlatives.”
“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.”
“Well-written, and engaging…All readers will…find it supremely fascinating to learn of the terms…to express greatness.”
“An energetic escape from the literary languor that enwreathes writers and speakers addicted to stale adjectives.”
“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.”
“What could be as fabulous, stupendous, showstopping, socko-boffo, and epiphanic as this neatly organized, humorous yet helpful ‘acclamatory hoard’ of words for praising?”
“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.”
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