The Describer's Dictionary: A Treasury of Terms and Literary Quotations

This is an excellent reference book and I use it every time I write. I don't believe you have to be 'low class' if you need this, as some reviewers pointed out, but some of the excerpts used are outdated and useless in today's writing world. Sure, Hawthorne, Fitzgerald and the like were wonderful writers, and we can learn, but we don't write like that today. Also, there are some words that would just sound out of place or stupid when used. He has things grouped in chapters. ( Ears, looks with eyes, colors, shapes, hairstyles, etc.) For example, he has a chapter on "Eyes" but some of the excerpts don't always match up to descriptions about "Eyes", what's up with that? HOWEVER, there are times you might need a word or two, something that escapes you, or a way to describe a look, or feeling, or texture or shape and that's where this book comes in handy. I think if you have problems with description, this can really help.

How about this for the sole entry under "having turned in feet: pigeon-toed"? The entire volume is filled with inanities of this type. One would have to be pretty low on the vocabulary food chain to be incapable of readily summoning to mind almost any of the synonyms listed in this book. Also, the quotations sacrifice the sublime for the politically correct, and are therefore equally lacking in excellence. Don't buy it unless you are in the lower 20% of the populace in verbal facility, for you will be wasting your money.

Lots of fun and useful for physical descriptions of animal, vegetable and mineral. Not appropriate for writers looking for inspiration in abstracts, emotions or thought.

This is a very useful book, containing brief excerpts from literary works on the left-hand pages, and lists of words broken down in categories on the right. It is interesting both to read - the excerpts are all excellent examples of descriptive writing - and to find the right word. However, I don't give it 5 stars because it has no index. To find a word, you need to look first to the chapter (main categories) then read through all the sub-categories.

The reason I like this reference so much is that if I don't find exactly what I'm looking for, I may very well find something I like better. Further, this is the kind of reference you can actually read. Open this book to any chapter (segment) on, say, "hair." You'll find several quotes about "hair" that are entertaining and may stir your own creative juices before you even get to the part that lists adjectives for all kinds of-- ahem-- tresses, locks, strands, shocks, hanks, coils, tendrils, curls, ringlets or swirls...As you can see, this offering gives an author an idea of how the best might have handled the same problem she faces. Many are mightily amusing.
If you don't just keep reading instead of handling the problem at hand, you might eventually find adjectives for some 96 possible "hair situations" and one of them will likely be exactly what you need.

There are usually several descriptive words under each entry. So for "oiled hair" you will find, "greased, slicked, slick, pomaded , brilliantined, plastered, pasted." You can choose one, let one speak to you so you can come up with a simile or metaphor, or move on down the list to see if there's something more to your liking.

When I get into a writing snit, it's often this book to my rescue.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"