I enjoyed Word Freak while I was reading it, mostly because I'm a language-nerd-wannabe. It was interesting enough, and I enjoyed watching Fatsis become more and more involved in the world of professional Scrabble. Plus, I picked up some excellent words to use when I play.

In retrospect, the book as a whole went on a little too long, and I had issues with some of Fatsis's descriptions of other players. However, I would still recommend it to anyone who plays Scrabble for fun (and also likes reading, of course). If nothing else, you'll be able to modify a few of the strategies more advanced players use to help your own game out, and you should be able to find at least one useful word you didn't know existed before you read Word Freak.

Although it provides fascinating insight into the world of competitive Scrabble, this book also reminded me that what I dislike about Scrabble is the lack of context for words. I like using words and knowing what they mean; Scrabble involves only memorizing particular patterns of letters. As pointed out in the book, one doesn't even need to speak English to play in English, so long as one has memorized the spellings.

That being said, Fatsis does a fine job of drawing us into a world of obsession. The Know-It-All covers similar territory with a bit more humor.

I lingered over this bookfor days. I didn't wantto stop reading aboutScrabble and Scrabblecrazed fanatics.

I always enjoy reading about someone who is obsessed with something that doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. So, while I enjoy the occasional game of Scrabble, and will never forget the time the spouse but down "quahogs" on a triple word score, memorizing lists of words is not for me. Fortunately, Fatsis was up to the challenge of becoming a competitive Scrabble player. It is a long, strange trip.