A New York Times bestseller

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is the kind of book you buy fifteen copies of and stash everywhere, just to have one on hand to give away.

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“It’s undeniably thrilling to find words for our strangest feelings…Koenig casts light into lonely corners of human experience…An enchanting book."

—The Washington Post

"Creates beautiful new words that we need but do not yet have."

—John Green, New York Times bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars

“These aren’t real words, but if crysalism and ellipsism don’t perfectly sound like their meanings, I don’t know what other words would.”

—George Takei

“BRILLIANT”

—New York Magazine

“Beautiful...amazing.”

—Huffington Post

“Its existence feels almost otherworldly, like spells from the mind of J.K. Rowling.”

—Upworthy

“Perfect.”

—BuzzFeed

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"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, relatable, 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. With a gorgeous package and beautiful illustrations throughout, this is the perfect gift for creatives, word nerds, and human beings everywhere."

—Excerpt from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows cover copy, by John Koenig, Simon & Schuster, 2021.

From the Dictionary