"A dictionary, despite its heroic effort to pin down language, is destined for failure the moment a single word is printed; for language, with its eternal mutations, is forever uncontainable. In Dictionary Days, essayist Ilan Stavans explores our very human need to "seize upon the meaning of a word." Owner of hundreds of dictionaries, he follows a zigzagging history of lexicography across many languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, and Cyrillic. Throughout his journey, Stavans spots strange meaning inconsistencies, uncovers unusual origins, and shares extraordinary and often hilarious anecdotes."--Jacket.
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