Gordon S. Jackson

When I saw Meet the Dog Who Didn’t Sh*t on Librarything Early Reviewers I didn't know what to expect, I just loved the title. After reading it, I can honestly say I loved the entire book. In fact, this may be my all-time favourite book about words perhaps, at least partly, as a Canadian, similar to the author who is from S. Africa, I am always stumbling somewhere between American and proper spelling. Seriously, whatever possessed Americans to drop the u from so many words...sorry, a pet peeve of mine.

Anyway (if I can be permitted to use a meaningless word as explained in the book) in case you're wondering, the title was the result of a misunderstanding between the author and a co-worker. Also, I have to say, I still refuse to accept that ‘irregardless’ is a word and don’t care if it has been begrudgingly accepted by Merriam-Webster, it is just wrong.

So to sum up, this is one fun informative read and I enjoyed it immensely. For anyone who loves words and many of the the quirks of the English language or just wants to know when to properly use who or whom (and who or whom doesn’t), this is the book for you.… (más)

I received an early review copy of this book. This is not a book I would typically have on my to read list, so I am very grateful it fell into my lap. I loved it. I wouldn't say I am "word snob" but I do love to analyze how things affect one another. This book delved deep into how versatile our language is and how it affects our world from relationships to politics to entertainment to academia. I learned a lot while reading this book which is always a bonus. The author was funny as well. I wasn't expecting to laugh so much at a book about language and words, but the author was clever and I loved his use of the footnotes. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever corrected another on their words or who has ever wondered "where'd that word come from?". And now I realized I have never been so self conscious about my grammar in a book review before, lol.… (más)

This is a great book! I had forgotten what to expect when I started to read it (for some reason I had thought it was a story about a fictional dog that didn't...well...sh*t), but it has been such a fascinating read! Parts of it are things I already know about language and words with extra information, while other sections are entirely new information that I would never have dreamed of. It's great. I love it, and would definitely recommend it if you like reading about words.
(It's also in short little sections and super easy to read!)

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.… (más)