This is an enjoyable book. Not too deep, and I could do with a little less of Fatsis's "goggling at the sideshow freaks" attitude. Perhaps this is because I recognize a number of similarities between the subculture of competitive SCRABBLE and the subculture of science fiction pro-/fandom, and, yeah, the jokes get old. On the other hand, I do very much like the way he charts his own descent (or ascent, depending on how you want to look at it) from relatively ordinary journalist to SCRABBLE geek. He's not a geek at the start of the book (which makes it a little disconcerting to read, if you are a geek), but he is one by the end.

This had to be one of the most eccentric books I have ever read, both in style and content. As a Scrabble player, trivia lover, and the owner of a number of books on language and word origins, and since I am a writer, editor, and proofreader by profession, and was also an ESL/ESOL teacher for a number of years, I assumed that I was a bit of a word freak myself, but this book is all about the maniacs and obsessives who take it to the nth degree. By the standards of some of the folks in this book, I can consider myself extremely normal and balanced, despite my lifelong love of words and books.

The author has had a lengthy run as a sportswriter, prior to that was a reporter for the AP, and kicked off his career as a student journalist who pursued a number of internships. I respect his ambition, but I detect a bit of fanaticism in his determination, which he applied to his insider's approach to the competitive Scrabble world, playing in a number of tournaments.

The sections of the book I found most interesting covered the creation and evolution of the game from the Great Depression on, its great popularity in the 1950s, and its acquisition by some of the leading toy and game companies over the years. The sections on point systems, memorization techniques, and diagrams made my eyes glaze over, and I skipped through them quickly. On the whole, the book is strangely organized, and the author's compulsive attitude towards the game was off-putting, though that didn't keep me from reading it, at least the parts that were more narrative in nature.

As he got more involved in playing the game, and entered tournaments, the author began to meet the more unusual individuals he describes in this book. Perhaps because it was published in 2001, before we began to employ more sensitivity in journalism, and before MeToo, or maybe just because it's his rather blunt style, he describes many of the people he met with less than an abundance of tact, and the women players and competitors get short shrift. Women players and opponents pop up occasionally throughout the book, but he devotes only one short chapter to them.

Despite all that, I picked up a few useful tips that should enhance my own game, but came away with the knowledge that I will never, ever, enter a Scrabble tournament, something that would definitely take all my enjoyment of the game away.

This book wins. What can you possibly learn about life from people who obessively play scrabble as their hobby and sometimes as their default profession? Quite a lot - about passion, about friendships between people - about being intensely devoted to something because you love it, not because it's popular or because others understand it. And the best part about it is you even start to catch a bit of enthusasm for playing scrabble! Read it. You'll like it.

I enjoyed this book! It’s a technical read, so not to be rushed, but I think people who enjoy language, words, spelling, etc. will enjoy it. I enjoyed it on the technical level, but also enjoyed the stories of the characters who inhabit the Scrabble tournament world. I found the narrator likeable, self-deprecating and humorous. I liked his narration style and the whole concept of the book - becoming a Scrabble tournament player.

On a side note, who knew Waltham was a Scrabble hub, Deb?! It was also fun to read the Hasbro references as a family member works for Hasbro.

Fascinating read. Highly recommended for Scrabble/word fans . for a full review please go to https://thebooksmithblog.wordpress.com

It was a 4 Star for me at the beginning & again at the conclusion, but in between was really simply TMI!!!!!.... It was a play by play... literally... Maybe it's because I'm into Scrabble... but not that into Scrabble... but even merely one one-hundreth of the intensity expressed in this nonfiction work causes me to not only see the board game in a whole new light, but in a negative way... The one word review of this book is:

Intense.

After reading this, I want to be a better Scrabble player. Not an "expert" (by ranking) Scrabble player, necessarily, as I really do want to have a life. But I want to get better. And I think that as I read this, I did become a better one (judging by the Words With Friends games I played), if only incrementally. I guess now I just need to find some word lists to study and figure out what works best for me. ;)

Oh yeah, Word Wars, one of the documentaries spawned by this book, was definitely entertaining. I pictured one of the players in my mind as Buster from Arrested Development. Turns out the guy really does look like Buster!

A somewhat interesting view into the world of competitive Scrabble. If you liked Wordplay, you'll probably like this. I enjoyed learning about the mechanics of tournament play and the kinds of things people do to improve their game. Unfortunately, the book dragged at times. The mini-biographies of some of the players really went on too long and in most cases didn't really add much to my understanding of them or the game. I did find that when the book became more memoirlike - focusing on Fatsis's personal journey - it picked up and I wanted to keep reading.
Overall, an interesting if not compelling read.

A fascinating (if somewhat stilted at times) look at the wild characters and culture-wide niche obsession with the amazing game Scrabble. I learned a lot about the lengths the top players go to and the methods they use.
Like others have written in their reviews, it cemented the fact in my head that I'll never go to those lengths. I'm an enthusiast and I love the game but I can't ever see myself participating in tournament play. I do think I'd like to go watch one if one happens near me, though.
It's always fascinating to me how once you scratch the surface of almost anything, there's a vivid and often-contentious history filled with passionate debates that last to the present. And Scrabble is no different; the ongoing wrangling of what words are allowable, for example, and in what regions of the world. The seemingly-strange standoffishness of the parent companies of the game (Mattel and Hasbro). The strange origins of the game from humble beginnings and several handoffs and buyouts to what it is today. The people that have made aspects of it a lifetime pursuit from score-crunching to computer simulation programming to probability theory. Not to mention the bizarre (to me) mishandling of the online aspect of the game.
The book shows that there's a deep, deep well of love for this game around the world and many different types of players are attracted to it.
I didn't much like the author's near-constant pooh-poohing of 'the blue hairs,' though. Like it's a horrible fate to be matched up with or, god forbid, lose to an older lady. The horror! He mentions them enough to make it feel like they're a whole vast clique subset of the game that he just...eschews. I feel like there's a third of the book missing without more of their stories. He gets into a small aside regarding a few women players but it's a tiny sliver of the book.
But that aside, it was a nice break from my near-constant diet of science fiction and fantasy. Scrabble is a game that I've been quite passionate about for a long time if ignorant of it's origins or greater place in the competitive world.
It's a great book for long-time fans and noobs alike.

I have always loved Scrabble and had been meaning to read this book for a long time. It didn't disappoint. The behind-the-scenes look into the professional Scrabble circuit felt genuine and was filled with the freaks and eccentrics that I was hoping to find. Fatsis' writing could get a bit repetitive at times as he made every effort to let us know that he was both a journalist and a Scrabble junkie, but overall the combination of his personal saga and his analysis of the Scrabble world was very satisfying.

To start off, I'll say that I liked this book. However, the first half of the book took me an inordinate amount of time to get through. (On top of having relatively little time to read due to medical school obligations, I guess I was searching for a book to quell my feverish cravings for all things board game-related, which was a futile effort in its own.) However, once I finally picked this book back up to continue reading, I started accepting it for what it was and really enjoyed everything that it claimed to be in its subtitle. After reading this book, I strongly admire the dedication and journalistic ambition Fatsis displayed during his two-year journey in the Scrabble community, about which this book was written. (Side note: I've taken a quick peak on Scrabble tournament websites and found out that he's currently still an active player in the Scrabble scene.) Toward the end of the book, I found myself reading 10-20 pages every night just for some inspiration in my own endeavors; having finished, I'm inspired to work harder and study better and in a more dedicated fashion in my own academic pursuits. I really enjoyed the small glimpse into the life of the people about whom he wrote in this book, as well as learning about the background and history of the competitive Scrabble micro-culture. A self-described "word freak" myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the uncommon words (colloquially uncommon, but common is expert-level competitive Scrabble) that Stefan peppered throughout the latter half of the book. I was once excited to donate this book to my neighbor's community take-a-book-leave-a-book box, but I think I'll hold onto it for a little while to do a little nerdy studying of the many capitalized Scrabble words throughout the book of which I am oblivious to the meaning. I'm glad that I finally let myself enjoy this book for what it is, and I thank Stefan Fatsis for the enjoyment I had reading about his experiences - good and bad - and for staying true to the spirit of his book by perfectly describing the Scrabble scene, his feelings throughout, and the various players in all their eccentricities. I recommend this book as a good read and an inspiring read.

You probably need to be a Scrabble enthusiast or some other kind of word nerd (spelling, crossword puzzles) to really enjoy this book. I am, so I did. The intricate technicalities of playing Scrabble at a stratospheric level were the most interesting things in the book.

I was taken aback, however, by Fatsis's sexism. Many times he scoffs at having to play middle-aged women or "blue hairs." As someone who fits into the first group, I could not find myself rooting for Fatsis as the story increasingly turns upon his own quest to become a highly competitive player. I did find the stories of Marlon, Matt, G.I. Joel and other brilliant misfits reasonably compelling, though.