Outstanding. Fatsis' embedding of himself in the culture of competitive play is engaging even if you're not a Scrabble fan. The mental game he so carefully examines of both aspiring and top players reveals how many layers of emotion and calculation go into playing at higher levels. How can you do well at such a specialized pursuit without flirting with mania? ( )

Wall Street Journal sports reporter Stefan Fatsis gets assigned to cover Scrabble™, and explores what it means to be the best at a competitive activity. Fatsis follows the Scrabble™ careers of such characters as “GI” Joel (not veteran status, but gastrointestinal problems); Marlon from Baltimore, black and unemployed but a word genius; and Matt, who would be banned if Scrabble™ players were drug tested. Fatsis finds himself getting gradually drawn into the world, memorizing word lists and unscrambling anagrams for fun. There are asides about Alfred Mosher Butts, the inventor of the game; and about its publishing history (moving from handmade in Butt’s living room to semi-handmade by James Brunot in an old schoolhouse to printers Selchow & Righter to big businesses Coleco and Hasbro). It’s noted that after Selchow & Righter, the companies that owned Scrabble™ never seemed to be quite sure what to do with it, especially in the age of computer games. Fatsis gradually gets better and better, moving up in the rankings – and eventually playing with almost Zen-like detachment.

So what does it mean to be a “world class” Scrabble™ player? You’re never going to get to do celebrity product endorsements (although the concept of Scrabble™ athletic shoes does seem mildly amusing). You end up with a small circle of fellow players as friends – all interesting people, but rather single-minded. But you’ve accomplished something that took brainpower and hard work, even if only other players are impressed. An interesting and enlightening read. ( )

Word Freak was lent to me by a person who I was losing pretty badly to in Words With Friends. Perhaps he thought it would help me raise my game. Fatsis is a journalist who in short order, about two years, became an expert division one Scrabble player, attaining a rank of 1733. His book has chapters on the history and origins of the game, its commercialization and continuing success, and a number of the more colorful characters or "freaks" who are among the upper echelon players and who serve as coaches and mentors for Fatsis's own trajectory from journeyman to top flight tournament player. This "it takes a community to make a champion" vibe reminded me of all the players who helped prodigy Beth Harmon face the Russian chess masters in the popular Netflix documentary, The Queen's Gambit. Fatsis himself draws other parallels between the two games: the fanatic devotion, the innate talent, the tens of thousands of hours of study, the strategizing. But if top flight chess players are often depicted as veering on the edge of insanity, Fatsis's fellow gamers are more like high school misfits and nerds. At the end of the day, I learned a lot about how Fatsis improved his game through incessant study of dictionaries and word lists. Through anagramming, playing tons of games with his new friends, entering tournaments, studying games played, analyzing key moves, creating anamonic phrases, and much much more. That said, this book, did not make me better at Words with Friends. But it was an amusing and enjoyable glimpse into a world filled with zany and passionate and intelligent word freaks. They were great company. ( )

This is a real departure from my normal read but it was really a very interesting story. Stefan Fatsis took a year off from his job as a sports writer for Wall Street Journal and joined the ranks of the (very whacky) tournament Scrabble players. I don't even play Scrabble and found this book wonderful. ( )

Some great immersion reporting. Not only did Stefan Fatsis do his research on the history of the game but he got to personally know, befriend, and learn from the expert players. He got to know the hardcore players and became one himself.

It was interesting to read about the hardcore, obsessive players and how the game works in the competitive world. The scoring, the dictionaries, the tactics, the everything.

The great thing about reading is that I can learn about something without having to do it myself. I love Scrabble enough to read a book about it but not enough to put the time and energy into studying word lists and memorizing anagrams.

Good read.

Oh, and the book is full of my GRE vocabulary like whoa. ( )