Word Freak: A Journey Into the Eccentric World of the Most Obsessive Board Game Ever Invented - Softcover

"This book has come close to ruining my life... Within two pages I was hooked. This is an enthralling and wonderfully written elegy" (Daily Telegraph)

"A remarkable book" (Independent)

"A quirky account of a very peculiar practice" (Herald)

"A very funny book" (Lynn Barber)

"An amiable memoir of self-inflicted obsession" (Times Literary Supplement)

For many, Scrabble is merely a board game. For others it is an intellectual pilgrimage. In this book, Stefan Fatsis, journalist and self-confessed word freak, goes in search of the people for whom Scrabble is life and affords us a glimpse into the extraordinary world of the brilliant geeks and misfit savants who populate the highest ranks of the game.

Playing competitively in tournaments across the world, Fatsis chronicles the story of how Scrabble has grown from a diversion invented by an unemployed architect during The Great Depression into the hugely successful, challenging and beloved game of today.