A truly original book in every sense of the word The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows poetically
defines emotions that we all feel but don’t have the words to express until now—from the
creator of the popular online project of the same name. Have you ever wondered about the
lives of each person you pass on the street realizing that everyone is the main character in
their own story each living a life as vivid and complex as your own? That feeling has a name:
“sonder.” Or maybe you’ve watched a thunderstorm roll in and felt a primal hunger for disaster
hoping it would shake up your life. That’s called “lachesism.” Or you were looking through old
photos and felt a pang of nostalgia for a time you’ve never actually experienced. That’s
“anemoia.” If you’ve never heard of these terms before that’s because they didn’t exist
until John Koenig began his epic quest to fill the gaps in the language of emotion. Born as a
website in 2009 The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows has garnered widespread critical acclaim
inspired TED talks album titles cocktails and even tattoos. The Dictionary of Obscure
Sorrows “creates beautiful new words that we need but do not yet have ” says John Green
bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars. By turns poignant funny and mind-bending
the definitions include whimsical etymologies drawn from languages around the world
interspersed with otherworldly collages and lyrical essays that explore forgotten corners of
the human condition—from “astrophe ” the longing to explore beyond the planet Earth to
“zenosyne ” the sense that time keeps getting faster. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is
for anyone who enjoys a shift in perspective pondering the ineffable feelings that make up our
lives which have far more in common than we think. With a gorgeous package and beautifully
illustrated throughout this is the perfect gift for creatives word nerds and people
everywhere.
