A B C Zzzz
Review of the Corsair UK hardcover edition (2020) of the MCD X FSG original USA edition (Nov. 2019)

The premise in the synopsis did make this sound intriguing:

From A to Z, “Agitate” to “Zygote,” Freeman assembled the words that felt most essential, most potent, and began to build a case for their renewed power and authority, each word building on the last. The message that emerged was not to retreat behind books, but to emphatically engage in the public sphere, to redefine what it means to be a literary citizen.

In practice though it became rather wearisome and dated. Only a few of the essays here came across as relevant and compelling in 2020. A few of them did seem especially prescient especially as this was inspired in 2016 and probably written from 2017 to 2018 or so. The most interesting were those in the central section with J(ustice), K(illing), L(ove), M(onument) & P(olice) and in the final section of W(omen). Much of the rest was tedious and did not really inspire much thought or contemplation.

I read Dictionary of the Undoing as part of my subscription to Parisian bookshop Shakespeare and Company's 2020 Year of Reading New Releases. ( )