The Liar's Dictionary
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- Create Date：2021-11-16 01:19:12
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Eley Williams
- ISBN：0593311868
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Summary
NATIONAL BESTSELLER - "You wouldn't expect a comic novel about a dictionary to be a thriller too， but this one is。 In fact， [it] is also a mystery， love story （two of them） and cliffhanging melodrama。" --The New York Times Book Review
An award-winning novel that chronicles the charming misadventures of a lovelorn Victorian lexicographer and the young woman put on his trail a century later to root out his misdeeds while confronting questions of her own sexuality and place in the world。
Mountweazel n。 the phenomenon of false entries within dictionaries and works of reference。 Often used as a safeguard against copyright infringement。
In the final year of the nineteenth century， Peter Winceworth is toiling away at the letter S for Swansby's multivolume Encyclopaedic Dictionary。 But his disaffection with his colleagues compels him to assert some individual purpose and artistic freedom， and he begins inserting unauthorized， fictitious entries。 In the present day， Mallory， the publisher's young intern， starts to uncover these mountweazels in the process of digitization and through them senses their creator's motivations， hopes， and desires。 More pressingly， she's also been contending with a threatening， anonymous caller who wants Swansby's staff to "burn in hell。" As these two narratives coalesce， Winceworth and Mallory， separated by one hundred years， must discover how to negotiate the complexities of life's often untrustworthy， hoax-strewn， and undefinable path。 An exhilarating， laugh-out-loud debut， The Liar's Dictionary celebrates the rigidity， fragility， absurdity， and joy of language while peering into questions of identity and finding one's place in the world。
An award-winning novel that chronicles the charming misadventures of a lovelorn Victorian lexicographer and the young woman put on his trail a century later to root out his misdeeds while confronting questions of her own sexuality and place in the world。
Mountweazel n。 the phenomenon of false entries within dictionaries and works of reference。 Often used as a safeguard against copyright infringement。
In the final year of the nineteenth century， Peter Winceworth is toiling away at the letter S for Swansby's multivolume Encyclopaedic Dictionary。 But his disaffection with his colleagues compels him to assert some individual purpose and artistic freedom， and he begins inserting unauthorized， fictitious entries。 In the present day， Mallory， the publisher's young intern， starts to uncover these mountweazels in the process of digitization and through them senses their creator's motivations， hopes， and desires。 More pressingly， she's also been contending with a threatening， anonymous caller who wants Swansby's staff to "burn in hell。" As these two narratives coalesce， Winceworth and Mallory， separated by one hundred years， must discover how to negotiate the complexities of life's often untrustworthy， hoax-strewn， and undefinable path。 An exhilarating， laugh-out-loud debut， The Liar's Dictionary celebrates the rigidity， fragility， absurdity， and joy of language while peering into questions of identity and finding one's place in the world。
Reviews
Alli Metababycow
，
This is masterfully written but it's not my cup of tea。 I got about 1/3rd of the way through it， but I know someone who will love it so going to pass on！ This is masterfully written but it's not my cup of tea。 I got about 1/3rd of the way through it， but I know someone who will love it so going to pass on！ 。。。more
Rica
，
What a curious little book。 Having spent my life working with words as an editor， and with a deep fascination for how dictionaries are created， I expected to like it more than I did。 But I grew weary of the long passages of linguistic pyrotechnics， and I had trouble relating to any of the characters。
Timon
，
If you love learning new words and their etymology and just going down a rabbit hole with all of it。。it's probably for you。 I honestly slept through 60% of the book after which it started to get interesting but then the ending was way too abrupt and weird。 Winceworth is a lexicographer who has been hired to work on sets of word that will go into Swansby Dictionary when it was being set to publish back in 1800/1900？ Circa back to present Mallory has been hired to update and digitize this dictiona If you love learning new words and their etymology and just going down a rabbit hole with all of it。。it's probably for you。 I honestly slept through 60% of the book after which it started to get interesting but then the ending was way too abrupt and weird。 Winceworth is a lexicographer who has been hired to work on sets of word that will go into Swansby Dictionary when it was being set to publish back in 1800/1900？ Circa back to present Mallory has been hired to update and digitize this dictionary so that it finally be published。 Winceworth seriously needed to find his own worth if you go by the title of the book。 Learning about how some words came into existence was interesting but apart from there wasn't much to be excited about in this book 。。。more
Jody
，
This is a slow book， there’s no denying。 In some ways it’s more like a love letter to words， to language， to the presumption of attempting to harness *meaning* with a few symbols and sounds， than it is a novel。 If that sounds good， I highly recommend The Liar’s Dictionary。 If not， well， it won’t be a good match。 I enjoyed the 1899 timeline more than the modern， but both were good。
M Scott
，
This is an interesting little book。 On the one hand it's a playful word-enthusiast delight full of curiosities and etymologies and mountweazels （made up words， intentionally passed off as real）。 On the other it's about the difficulty of finding love， being in love， believing one's-self lovable in London of the now and a century past。 Sweet without being too sappy， I think。 Perhaps inconsequential but certainly diverting for those who enjoy the reference section of the library。 Four stars This is an interesting little book。 On the one hand it's a playful word-enthusiast delight full of curiosities and etymologies and mountweazels （made up words， intentionally passed off as real）。 On the other it's about the difficulty of finding love， being in love， believing one's-self lovable in London of the now and a century past。 Sweet without being too sappy， I think。 Perhaps inconsequential but certainly diverting for those who enjoy the reference section of the library。 Four stars 。。。more
Deepa Nirmal
，
I am a lover of words and language， and if you too are one， this book is for you。 It starts out slowly， with chapters alternating between present day and the last year of the 19th century。 At the heart of the story are mountweazels （made up words） that have been inserted into Swansby’s dictionary， an also-ran of dictionaries。 Slowly， slowly， the story unspools， with 21st century Mallory searching painstakingly for these rogue words， and Peter Winceworth， who inserted them all back in 1899。I had I am a lover of words and language， and if you too are one， this book is for you。 It starts out slowly， with chapters alternating between present day and the last year of the 19th century。 At the heart of the story are mountweazels （made up words） that have been inserted into Swansby’s dictionary， an also-ran of dictionaries。 Slowly， slowly， the story unspools， with 21st century Mallory searching painstakingly for these rogue words， and Peter Winceworth， who inserted them all back in 1899。I had to keep looking words up as I read， and I pride myself on my vocabulary！ Like I said， it gets off to a slow， boring， pretentious start， but don’t give up。 It’s a small book， utterly original， organized in chapters from A to Z， and so worth your time。 。。。more
Katharina
，
The irony of the “stream-of-consciousness”-like introduction can be assumed as intentional but might discourage certain readers from delving deeper into this novel。 However， persevering readers will find themselves more enticed into the *paralleling* story lines， and characters the father the book progresses。 The end leaves the reader with a feeling of content with regards to the characters’ developments， and closure of the narrative。 （Beginning: 2 stars; After finishing the book: 3-3。5 stars）
Stavroula
，
3。5 and had a hard time deciding whether or not to round up or down。 Decided to round down because I almost gave up on it。 But the second half got better and it was a unique。
Leanne
，
Can't recommend this one。 It gets 2 stars from me because。。。 words。 I love 'em and I love dictionaries and they made this book fun enough for me to go ahead and finish even though there is no substance here。 The story is tissue paper thin and unfocused （seems to be a theme in many of my books this year。。。）， and delivers the absurdity promised in the blurb without the wit。Add 2 main characters without spines， self-esteem， or maturity and the book just doesn't deliver。 Can't recommend this one。 It gets 2 stars from me because。。。 words。 I love 'em and I love dictionaries and they made this book fun enough for me to go ahead and finish even though there is no substance here。 The story is tissue paper thin and unfocused （seems to be a theme in many of my books this year。。。）， and delivers the absurdity promised in the blurb without the wit。Add 2 main characters without spines， self-esteem， or maturity and the book just doesn't deliver。 。。。more
Amy Gressell
，
Mountweazel may be my new favorite word， but the word that comes to mind upon finishing this over-indulgent bore is， "exasperating。" While this is clearly the author's playground to dazzle her reader's with an exorbitant amount of vocabulary， the modern-day story is， to put it plainly and bluntly， stupid。 I do love the English language and I also love my books to challenge me， but it was nearly impossible to establish a rhythm for all the obscure words I was constantly looking up （yes， I have a Mountweazel may be my new favorite word， but the word that comes to mind upon finishing this over-indulgent bore is， "exasperating。" While this is clearly the author's playground to dazzle her reader's with an exorbitant amount of vocabulary， the modern-day story is， to put it plainly and bluntly， stupid。 I do love the English language and I also love my books to challenge me， but it was nearly impossible to establish a rhythm for all the obscure words I was constantly looking up （yes， I have a mini dictionary in my nightstand）。Modern-day Mallory is about as exiting as the hourglass on a Windows computer。 That reference needed to be drawn out in one long chapter。 Thanks， but it's 2021， we get it。 Her relationship with her boss and her girlfriend are so inane and uninteresting， and the so-called "payoff" was nothing short of absurd。That being said， however， the 1899 portion of the dual timeline leant much more interest。 I couldn't help but feel sorry for the lisping Winceworth and his hopes for becoming eternally recognized for planting mountweazels in his dictionary。 The chapter on the choking pelican offered a bit of humor， but was also incredibly bizarre。 At least he got his due in the end。 A freakish weed is just a flower that has not asked permission。Beautiful， if not a bit gratuitous。 There were definitely funny parts throughout， which rescued this novel from my DNF pile。 I did want to see how it ended， but now I'm just annoyed。 。。。more
Giovanna
，
Buscaba una lectura liviana， una distracción。 Este libro cumple esos requisitos pero queda muy por debajo de las expectativas que promete el resumen。
Michael Belcher
，
A celebration of the slippery jubilance of language and the wonder that comes with intimate nonsense and “crucial-silly things。” Because of its utter novelty， it takes some time to get into the book’s dense rhythms and eruditions， but once you do， the torrent of wit sparkles， then smooths， exposing the gooey， lovely soul at the center of its diamond “neatnesses。”
Laura
，
I think this book was uneven - some passages are gorgeous。 I highlighted seven of them。 Other passages are tedious and too wordy without adding anything to the story。 I liked the characters。 The story， told in two centuries， is interesting。 I still had many questions at the end of the book as to why certain people did certain things and what impelled some of the poor choices。 The creativity of the author in creating new words is delightful。 Her vocabulary is impressive but I still have mixed fee I think this book was uneven - some passages are gorgeous。 I highlighted seven of them。 Other passages are tedious and too wordy without adding anything to the story。 I liked the characters。 The story， told in two centuries， is interesting。 I still had many questions at the end of the book as to why certain people did certain things and what impelled some of the poor choices。 The creativity of the author in creating new words is delightful。 Her vocabulary is impressive but I still have mixed feelings about the book。 。。。more
Johanna
，
A fun， fast novel that tells the story of a man who worked on the first edition of a dictionary and a woman who was revising his work， a hundred years later。 I found this an easy read， but nothing special
Emilie
，
This was cute
Emily
，
This really didn’t work for me。 There were a lot of enjoyable excerpts but the characters felt underdeveloped， as if I didn’t know either of them very well by the end of the story。 It didn’t really deliver on its synopsis; what was promised ended up being overshadowed by another subplot in what felt like a hasty， underwhelming resolution。
Rachel Gorham
，
When I was in late elementary school I was very nerdy and didn't know how to be smart without being a bit of a show-off about it， maybe？ but I was also very homely and I clung to my braininess as evidence of my worth as a human， because certainly those around me from 8 to 3:30 every day did their level best to make me feel like I had no worth at all。 Anyway。 One of the insults that was used against me with some frequency involved the idea that I enjoyed *reading the dictionary*。 THE NERVE， how V When I was in late elementary school I was very nerdy and didn't know how to be smart without being a bit of a show-off about it， maybe？ but I was also very homely and I clung to my braininess as evidence of my worth as a human， because certainly those around me from 8 to 3:30 every day did their level best to make me feel like I had no worth at all。 Anyway。 One of the insults that was used against me with some frequency involved the idea that I enjoyed *reading the dictionary*。 THE NERVE， how VERY LAME。 And the fact is that I didn't read it straight through， I dabbled in it a handful of entries at a time， bouncing around looking for words I didn't know or words that I loved。 How I wish that 12-year-old Rachel had had this book -- well， a more age-appropriate version， maybe -- on hand， to make her feel less alone。That said， I really *wanted* to love this book， and for parts of it I did。 Much of the rest was good but not great， and some passages just *dragged* -- usually when one chapter would symbolically-or-otherwise focus on intensive description of one rather boring concept， like the one focusing on the Windows "Wait" hourglass。 （The prologue was also a bit painful。） I preferred the modern story to the historical one， but each had its high points。 The wordplay and the dense prose were lovely and fun except when they were *too much* in a way that felt forced and pretentious。 。。。more
Kathy
，
I just wasn’t a fan
Dean
，
The author used a thesaurus to write。 Usually that bugs me。 A lot。 But given the subject about the authorship of a dictionary， it was charming and all part of the tone。 There are two stories。 Both had slow spots and fun points。 Overall neither of them was wholly grand， but both were enjoyable enough。
Sabrina Maisel
，
Getting through this book was painful。 A single sentence filling a page and a half？ I appreciated the mountweazels， but they were few and far between。 Very much not my cup of tea。
Josh
，
A fun， smart， funny palate cleanser in between reading more serious and sad books。
Mitzi
，
I'm a sucker for trivia about words， new words--clowder is a grouping of cats-- and the history of words and this book has plenty of that sort of trivia。 This is also a quirky book with surprising plot twists and some transcendent passages （also plenty of passages where nothing happens and it plods along）。 Its a book that illustrates both the power and powerlessness of words and how transitory language can be。 Its a fun book。 I'm a sucker for trivia about words， new words--clowder is a grouping of cats-- and the history of words and this book has plenty of that sort of trivia。 This is also a quirky book with surprising plot twists and some transcendent passages （also plenty of passages where nothing happens and it plods along）。 Its a book that illustrates both the power and powerlessness of words and how transitory language can be。 Its a fun book。 。。。more
Pam Cates
，
3。5
Colin
，
Eley Williams’s first novel delights in wordplay and the arcane pleasures of the English language。 Set in the offices of a doomed publishing venture （‘Swansby’s Encyclopaedic Dictionary’） and following the careers of two lexicographers a century apart， much of the atmosphere of academic rigour combined with a rich streak of eccentricity will be familiar to anyone who has read either of Simon Winchester’s books on the early years of the OED。 In the twenty-first century， young intern Mallory is se Eley Williams’s first novel delights in wordplay and the arcane pleasures of the English language。 Set in the offices of a doomed publishing venture （‘Swansby’s Encyclopaedic Dictionary’） and following the careers of two lexicographers a century apart， much of the atmosphere of academic rigour combined with a rich streak of eccentricity will be familiar to anyone who has read either of Simon Winchester’s books on the early years of the OED。 In the twenty-first century， young intern Mallory is set the task of tracking down multiple ‘mountweazels’， purely imaginary words with no history， made up and liberally strewn through the dictionary by Peter Winceworth for his own confused reasons in the dictionary’s late Victorian heyday。 The parallel plots following these two characters feel less well-developed than I would prefer， but the author’s sheer enthusiasm for and joy and pleasure in the English language is a delight。 。。。more
MARGARET R
，
While a little hard to get into， I ended up loving this book。 The lisp， the pelican and the bomb threats are some creative nuggets that you come across as you read。
Helen
，
I love words and found this fascinating。 I could have added quotes from most pages！ That said， it was a convoluted plot that I am not sure many people would find - enjoyable？ Understandable？ Intriguing？ Worthwhile？ I stopped and started several times， wondering about the characters and where they were going。 Read it as a library book， and recommended it to a few people。
Brittny
，
Not going to lie I listened to half of this book。 I have this in both physical and audio。 I listened to the girl's story as I thought it was interesting and like the voice actress。 For the guy's story。。。 I could not get into it。 The voice actor was not that great and overall just couldn't get into his side of the story so I skipped his chapters and just listened to Mallory's story。 I thought it was interesting but not thought-provoking as I thought it would be。 Not going to lie though I purely p Not going to lie I listened to half of this book。 I have this in both physical and audio。 I listened to the girl's story as I thought it was interesting and like the voice actress。 For the guy's story。。。 I could not get into it。 The voice actor was not that great and overall just couldn't get into his side of the story so I skipped his chapters and just listened to Mallory's story。 I thought it was interesting but not thought-provoking as I thought it would be。 Not going to lie though I purely picked up this book due to the cover。 I thought it was stunning， the story inside not so much。 Gave it a 3 for Mallory's story， the cover， and the voice actress I liked。 Everything else needed some work on。 。。。more
Lindsey
，
Well。 I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book。 It's a dual timeline-half set in the late 1800s and narrated by Winceworth， an employee at a dictionary publishing house， and half set in modern day narrated by Mallory， an employee at the same， now struggling and forgotten， publishing house。 After the first two pages I was ready to stop because I really had no idea what I was reading but I decided to persevere。 After the first chapter， still perplexed as to what the story was going to be。 The Well。 I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book。 It's a dual timeline-half set in the late 1800s and narrated by Winceworth， an employee at a dictionary publishing house， and half set in modern day narrated by Mallory， an employee at the same， now struggling and forgotten， publishing house。 After the first two pages I was ready to stop because I really had no idea what I was reading but I decided to persevere。 After the first chapter， still perplexed as to what the story was going to be。 There's a lot of throwing words around for the sake of just hearing them and to explore arcane definitions。 Once a plot actually started， I gradually came around to being interested in Winceworth's plodding life and Mallory's fear of phone call job harassment。 Learned some new words too。 Then Winceworth's story veered into the rabbit hole of pornography-for-art for shock value （even he says it's to shock him） and then it all abruptly ends。 Strange book but oddly well-written。 Just left a little confused by it。 。。。more
Amy （folkpants）
，
I wanted to like it so much more than a three。 It did really have its moments， though。
Rachel
，
Fans of Ali Smith will love this quiet， playful book about words and their meanings。 I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the parallel stories-one set in modern London and the other in the same location during the Victorian era-and found myself equally invested in both main characters and their respective stories。
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Liar's Dictionary
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Liar's Dictionary&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Liar's Dictionary&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0