I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found the subject matter really interesting. The book was well written and easy to understand. I highly recommend this book.

Just brilliant. Incredibly clever while rarely getting into the realm of TOO clever. Showing a deep love for language, Massini takes us on a journey through linguistic history to show us the limitations and possibilities behind language.

I really loved the concept for The Book of Nonexistent Words, but it fell a bit flat for me. It's a neat blend of storytelling and linguistics. The stories themselves were a mixed bag, a bit long and none that floored ne. I bet a lot of people will appreciate the creativity of this. I think I would have preferred stories (fictional or rooted in true origins) for real words.

In The Book of Nonexistent Words, Stefano Massini takes us on a linguistic journey through history, exploring tales both little-known and famed through the context of language and meanings that have yet to be put into words (or a word). The book is split into chapters named for letters in the alphabet, each chapter diving into one or two nonexistent words and historical tales with an accompanying illustration underscoring the intention of the word or the actual events described, making for some great pacing and a solid blend of tone - in short, it's a delightful nonfiction read. If anything, I'd have liked to see a bit more non-European examples, but I understand that it can be harder to find sources or at least ones in the author's language. Aside from that, The Book of Nonexistent Words is a breezy, endlessly intriguing look at history and the words that we missed out on.

This book is very much like the writing of Italo Calvino and has been compared to his book "Invisible Cities'. As a writer Massini finds that sometimes there is no word/words for an idea he is trying to present. He has therefore decided to create his own word/words to represent that thought. Using real historical situations that he then documents, his words are explained interpreted for his own thoughts.

Have read the translation, it fascinates me on how the translator has written a book that seems to have been from English to begin with. I'm at a loss to imagine how the translator Richard Dixon was able to translate some of the words that to me seem they couldn't have mad any sense in the original Italian.

Forgetting my inability to understand Mr Dixon's methods, let me say that it's a very entertaining book.