Roget's Superthesaurus

First of all, let me reiterate that I love words. I enjoy using thesauri and dictionaries to look up words. For many years, I had several dictionaries and thesauri on my shelf. Recently, I have found several online sources for dictionaries, but have not been able to replace my Super Thesaurus. The book is organized cleanly. Information is easy to find and read. "Super Thesaurus" would make a great gift for a beginning writer in grade school or a college bound freshmen. I would highly recommend this book for word lovers of all ages.

This book is actually a fairly exhaustive Thesaurus. It is 663 pages of common, specialized, and even slang words that have been defined, cross referenced, and alphabetized. The entries also consist of the type of word (i.e. verb, noun, etc.), notable quotations of uses, and what this book calls "reverse dictionary," which lists the words by their definition first, incase you know what it is and not what it is called (as the back cover totes). The entries gives the reader both synonyms and antonyms. There is also an introduction that helps the reader to understand how the book is organized and how to most effectively use this reference work. This book has been a big help in my school research. I highly recommend it.

My favorite feature of this thesaurus is it's thoroughness. It not only gives you the synonyms, but also antonyms, quotations relating to many of the words and a word-find reverse dictionary! This is a must-have for any writer. It's pushed most of my other reference books to the back of my bookshelf. I pick this one up each and every time I write.

I'm a newspaper copy editor, so reference books are a major part of my day-to-day life. They just don't get much better than this one ... concise, complete and so easy to use. Highly recommended.

While it seems a bit strange to be writing a review for something like a thesaurus, I have to say that this is truly an excellent book, the finest thesaurus in my office (and as a writer, I have many). I kept this by my side during my latest project and used it constantly. A particularly interesting feature is the Word Find that appears for some entries...in addition to synonyms, the book provides a lengthy list of words that relate to the entry. (For example, when you look up "Desert," you'll learn, among many, many other things, that in the desert you might see "Phantom Rain," which is rain that evaporates before it hits the ground.) A neat little feature you won't find in your usual thesaurus. Overall, an excellent reference tool, and highly recommended for everyone, not just writers.