the guy in the red glasses

Ever see the guy in the red glasses? 

He’s Rockporter Robert Hartwell Fiske, and he’s the author of The Dictionary of Unendurable English, published last month by Simon & Schuster.

Robert Hartwell Fiske’s Dictionary of Unendurable English

A Compendium of Mistakes in Grammar, Usage, and Spelling with Commentary on Lexicographers and Linguists

Read what people think of him and his book:

However curmudgeonly, Mr. Fiske betrays a bluff humanitarian spirit….[Fiske] wants to save [the English language]. And he knows that he can count on little help. Dictionaries "have virtually no standards, offer scant guidance, and advance only misunderstanding." His own flogging of Merriam-Webster’s is one of the many pleasures of this lovely, sour, virtuous book. — The Wall Street Journal

Word snobs and copy editors should love the Dictionary of Unendurable English and cherish it as a reference book. Those learning English can benefit, too. Folks who think they have English down pat ought to read it. Fiske will quickly force them (of whom I am one) to shed that conceit. This is, of course, a form of knuckle rapping. Fiske, to his credit, makes it a pleasure to endure. — Andrew Allentuck, National Post

Fiske, the language-obsessed creator of online journal The Vocabula Review, does not mince words. Nor shall I: His dictionary is one of the grumpiest, most self-righteous intellectual exercises I’ve ever had the genuine pleasure of reading. — Mia Lipman, Shelfari

[Fiske’s] documentation of brand creep is fascinating: Reporters use non-words such as “alleve” (a misspelled rendering of a commercial analgesic) when they mean to say “relieve.” “Abilify” — an antidepressant — has been perverted into a synonym for “enable.” — Sheila Anne Feeney, Star-Ledger