Word Freak

Word Freak
Author: Stefan Fatsis 2001 366 pp
My rating: 4*
Started March 23 2009, Finished March 31 2009.

Word Freak succeeds on multiple levels: as an exploration of the world of Scrabble which is accessible to those unfamiliar with the game and yet likely to be of interest to the devotee, as a character study of Scrabble geeks, characters all, who largely comprise its elite players and as a depiction of the weekend warrior which universalizes beyond the game of Scrabble itself to any recently acquired life-consuming, skill-based recreational obsession. The Scrabble aficionado will probably be most entertained by the book’s coverage of the game’s history, politics and strategy, though several rather detailed discussions of preparation approaches and word study might be a bit much for the casual reader. The character studies should have broad appeal and should be of particular interest to those who, to paraphrase Dylan, wonder what we do with our lives. Though I enjoyed those aspects of the book, I was most taken by Fatsis’ portrayal of his burgeoning obsession with the game and his Scrabble ranking; this weekend warrior strongly identified with the author’s emotional roller coaster that Fatsis put himself through overreacting to both successes and failures, one weekend delighted with his progress through the rankings, the next filled with self-castigation after the setback of a poor tournament performance.

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I toted my Franklin, OSPD, and word lists to the Continent but didn’t study at all, which surely must be to my credit as a human being, if not as a Scrabble player. (78)

Maven tile ranking: blank s e x z r a h n c d m t I j k l p o y f b g w u v q (290)