Reviews of Dictionary Days

“Ilan Stavans is uniquely qualified to ponder the meaning of words and the many-splendored pleasures to be found in this fascinating collection of essays.”—The Los Angeles Times

“Throughout, Stavans’s writing displays the charming verbal eccentricities of a man who has been adopted by a language rather than born into it. Stavans’s perceptions, too, are idiosyncratic, whether on language, literature, or something smaller and closer to home.” —The Boston Globe

“The book is a brave feat not only because it shows he’s got academic boxing gloves on, but also for the intimate vantage point it affords readers…Stavans takes [us] to another level by reading dictionaries as if they were blogs.”
—The Village Voice

“Stavans is treasured as a border crosser in every sense, a suitable intellectual for the global society and a steady innovator…we are whisked upon a magical mystery tour of sorts…[Stavans] is ‘noodling,’ in the old jazz phrase, shifting ground, and the joy is not in the finding but in the looking…And that makes Dictionary Days worth reading.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Devoted word lovers will warm to the company of a kindred spirit.”
—San Diego Union Tribune

“Billowing with color and wit…Not only a delight to read but is infectious, exciting an interest in dictionaries.” —Afterimage

“Authoritative and open, precise and wild…Lexicographers will relish this mix of memoir and language analysis, and so will anyone who knows that words have attitude.”—Booklist

“Delicious little essays of powerful intellectual curiosity.”—Kirkus

“Enlightening and browsable qualities for anyone who loves the serendipities of language.” —Publishers Weekly

“Crammed with fascinating information about language and reference books, especially dictionaries.” —Ron Smith, The Georgia Review