Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable - Adrian Room

Dr Ebenezer Cobham Brewer contribution to the literary world may not spring to mind easily. I should imagine that many twentieth century writers would admit to using his most famous work. Brewer was a compiler of information and in his long life wrote over forty books, many of which have become standard references and have run into many revisions over the century since his death. As is often the ironic twist of fate, this his most famous work, was at the time of its creation see as being of little commercial value. So down to business, what is the book all about? As the name suggests this is a compilation of phrases, quotations and adages, as well as the ...  Read the complete review

A lot of people might be put off ever reading this reference book, because they are not interested in fables fantasy etc and think that’s all the book contains. While the title of this book would seem to indicate that it contains only passages or phrases from fairy tales or fables, it offers an awful lot more. The references inside cover a multitude of different things. There are references to mythology, ancient history, everyday expressions, and new or relatively new words that creep into the language – words like Paparazzi, or Godzilla. The book is really a mix of language and general knowledge. It gives you an insight into popular culture since ...  Read the complete review

This book is a waste of time. You will pick it up, put it down what you think is a few minutes later, look at the clock, and realise hours have passed. Okay, perhaps "stealer of time" is better, as "waste" depends on your viewpoint, and you might not consider reading this book to be wasteful as you'll learn so much. Hang on - no-one ever *reads* a dictionary, right? Well, maybe not a normal dictionary. And maybe not "reads" as in the sense of following it through from beginning to end. But if you open this book at any page and begin to browse, you'll find yourself chasing cross-references from one end of the alphabet to the ...  Read the complete review