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Title: Word Mysteries and Histories: From Quiche to Humble Pie by American Heritage Dictionary Editors, Barry Moser, American Heritage Dictionaries ISBN: 0-395-40264-6 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: October, 1987 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $9.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4 (2 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: Handsome illustrations to an enjoyable book of etymology
Comment: I strongly disagree with the first reviewer here, who categorized Barry Moser's illustrations as "lousy 'art'." She complains that the images are macabre and sometimes border on the repulsive. She seems to think that her low opinion means that the works must give up any claim to being art. I believe that her sensibilities are rather too delicate, and suggest that she avoid viewing the works of great artists and illustrators such as Goya, Bosch, Gustave Dore, Dali, Leonard Baskin, Edward Gorey and many others. There is nothing offensive here but the cavalier manner in which the reviewer negates the artistic legitimacy of an entire series of prints.

Please see Amazon.com's scan of the book cover above, and you will see a handsome, well-composed wood engraving done with considerable skill, representative of the illustrations commissioned for this volume. The title of the book is "Word MYSTERIES and Histories" (emphasis mine), and the artist has chosen to emphasize the darker, more sinister aspects of the word selections.

I find these strong full-page images to be an intriguing counterpoint to the text. But they are art, whether I and the censuring reviewer like them or not.

Rating: 4
Summary: Great word histories; lousy "art"
Comment: I love words and gravitate towards books about them.

Here the authors explore the backgrounds of a variety of words from "paparazzi" to "teflon," "silhouette" to "zugzwang." Emphasis is on the mystery as well as the history of the words. Illustrations by Robert Moser, original wood carvings commissioned for this work, are sometimes macabre, always different. Much of the art work borders on the repulsive and the words aren't particularly unusual -- I found only 3 I didn't know and zugzwang was one of them.

But their histories are fascinating and, after all, that's what the book is about. I just wish they'd concentrated on the words and left out the "art" entirely.