Random House Webster's Word Menu

As an advertising copywriter, Word Menu and the Synonym Finder have been my two greatest resources. Highly Recommended.

Word Menu is an invaluable source for writers, especially poets, as it has categories of all sorts and vast lists of descriptions, images,and details. It was recommended to me by another poet, and I use this book by Stephen Glazier to enhance all writing. Much better than a thesaurus or a dictionary.

And we have a winner ! Back around 1991, a brainy friend of mine showed me a book and said, "This is a thesaurus, a sort of backward thesaurus." And I said, "Oh." and flipped through it a little bit. I saw a term for clearing a field for crops by burning it and thought, "Hm. How would I ever remember that word?" Well, ever since then, every time I see any non-alphabetical thesauri that claim to be novel in format and complete in content, I promptly follow the steps and try to re-find that lost word.

On and off, of course, this wasn't an obsession, but I would say I've tried around 10 different resources including any "backwards thesaurus" I see including McCutcheons "Descriptionary" which is a lot of fun anyway.

For those wondering how this book works, it is basically lists of sublists, and sub-sublists to a final list of one or two hundred words that you scan a brief 10 word (or so) definition to see if it is what you need. For example, I see a foot rest in my mind, but can't remember the word "ottoman"... I'd go to the biggest chunk, "Domestic Life", and under that list find, "Home" and then to "Furnishings" and then to "Chairs and Sofas" and there would find many many words I scan one of which is ottoman. By the way, apparently, all of reality can be categorized in 7 big chunks : Nature, Science and Technology, Domestic Life, Institutions, Arts and Leisure, Language, and The Human Condition. So for my "foot rest" example, once you choose "Domestic Life" as your first 'chunk' you are only 3 hops away (Home, Furnishings, Chairs) and you are scanning for your word 'ottoman'.

Only 2 small complaints: One is the possibility of blind alleys / dead ends that I'm sure all books of this type are subject to. For instance, I would probably have put the sub-list "Agriculture" under science and technology and not under economics. Not really a problem though since you can go to the back and find not only every word that's in the book, in the index, but all of the list headings. Boom! There's 'Agriculture' and I'm back on track.

The only other complaint is that the "Brief Table of Contents" which comprise the 1st 2 'chunking' or 'drilling down steps' (Domestic Life and Home, in our example) is separated by 11 pages from the complete Table of Contents thereby separating the first two largest general category lists from the 2 finer more specific lists. You find yourself using multiple fingers to hold pages and flip back and forth trying different routes. Why separate them? What is on the intervening pages breaking up my flow? Oddly : the Acknowledgements, Staff and Consultants, The Preface, the Biography of the Author, and the User's Guide. These are minor irritations and in no way daunting. The only thing daunting about this book is the notion of compiling it.

So here we are, 2007, and this book did what none other could do. Isolate the word I'd been looking for for so long. Is it fair to give a book a good review based on its ability to retrieve one word? Is this fair and scientific? Didn't I base this review well enough on the overall structure and efficiency of its format ? Was the "Random House Word Menu" that very book my friend handed me in ca. 1991? Should I reveal my secret word ? How about a hint? That's what the windsed to do. W-I-N-D-S-E-D. Do the anagram, or just get the "Word Menu".

After the OED, this is my all-time favorite reference work. Nothing else comes close to this grand work. Words are associated according to predominant use (yes, a tricky proposition at best), but amazingly, for the most part, it works. Words are categorized like Linnaean taxonomy, such as "science, arts, economics," etc. Systematic thinkers will have no difficulty finding associated words and concepts, while those who prefer a more direct route can simply consult the "index" at the end, which leads to the place it has been categorized in the front. Either way, everyone wins.

But the associations are magisterial, not just "related" or similar, but the whole constellation of likely associated words, acronyms, synonyms, and hierarchies of genus, species, and sub-species. There are more "linked" words than anyone can possibly imagine, or if one can imagine them, Word Menu has too. Short of an unabridged edition of the English language, nothing compares to this compilation.

Two observations. (1) Don't waste money on the "pocket-book" edition, it's too tiny and too microscopic to be as useful as this reference will be. (2) The only "oddity" is that all biological terms and concepts are under "Living Things," not under "Science," much less "Biology." No matter how many times I tell myself of this odd feature, I always default to "Science > Biology" and then find nothing. All those biological concepts and words are under "Living Things" apart from the section "Sciences." Odd. Very odd. Who conceived "Living Things" as a category of Human Thought along a Linnean taxonomy distinct from "Science?" Even so, why not just move "Living Things" to Science, and then to "Biology," rather than leaving "Biology" an empty (indeed, an "unmentioned" set)? Well, there's always the index for these situations.

Unfortunately, at time of review, no hardbound copy is in print (shame on Random House). And aside from the "Living Things" oddity, I find this reference so intuitive, so helpful, associating associations I would have to think long and hard to recall, that are here in an instant, plus a treasury un-thought or unconsidered too. Thesauruses are great references (assuming one finds a good one), but this reference has riches that even the best Thesaurus cannot match. And best of all, both systematic and direct thinkers can access the same work from different directions and both achieve their desired ends. A "must" reference for all of us who seek associations we weren't even sure were associated, and then some!

Word Menu by Stephen Glazier is a great tool for a writer concerned with percision of language and clear communication.