{"product_id":"9780547524313","title":"Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis “marvelously absorbing” book is “a walk on the wild side of words and ventures into the zone where language and mathematics intersect” (\u003ci\u003eSan Jose Mercury News\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A former \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e reporter and NPR regular, Stefan Fatsis recounts his remarkable rise through the ranks of elite Scrabble players while exploring the game’s strange, potent hold over them—and him.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e At least thirty million American homes have a Scrabble set—but the game’s most talented competitors inhabit a sphere far removed from the masses of “living room players.” Theirs is a surprisingly diverse subculture whose stars include a vitamin-popping standup comic; a former bank teller whose intestinal troubles earned him the nickname “G.I. Joel”; a burly, unemployed African American from Baltimore’s inner city; the three-time national champion who plays according to Zen principles; and the author himself, who over the course of the book is transformed from a curious reporter to a confirmed Scrabble nut.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Fatsis begins by haunting the gritty corner of a Greenwich Village park where pickup Scrabble games can be found whenever weather permits. His curiosity soon morphs into compulsion, as he sets about memorizing thousands of obscure words and fills his evenings with solo Scrabble played on his living room floor. Before long he finds himself at tournaments, socializing—and competing—with Scrabble’s elite.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e But this book is about more than hardcore Scrabblers, for the game yields insights into realms as disparate as linguistics, psychology, and mathematics. \u003ci\u003eWord Freak\u003c\/i\u003e extends its reach even farther, pondering the light Scrabble throws on such notions as brilliance, memory, competition, failure, and hope. It is a geography of obsession that celebrates the uncanny powers locked in all of us, “a can’t-put-it-down narrative that dances between memoir and reportage” (\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“\u003c\/b\u003eFunny, thoughtful, character-rich, unchallengeably winning writing.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis edition includes a new afterword by the author.\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Houghton Mifflin Harcourt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47123825459440,"sku":"9780547524313","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780547524313_p0.jpg?v=1769896618","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780547524313","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}