Word Freak

A surprising look at the eccentric world of competitive Scrabble.

Ruthless Scrabble players with a knack for hoarding the X until it can be played on a triple word score may see themselves among the cast of oddballs in this often-hilarious exploration of the competitive Scrabble scene. Fatsis follows a group of brainy, cutthroat (and sometimes socially-challenged) “word freaks” around the circuit, participating in matches for which the prizes are large checks and, perhaps more desirable, bragging rights. A relative amateur at the book’s beginning, Fatsis starts to place in major tournaments; along the way he meets the hypochondriacs, geniuses, pill-poppers, depressives and comedians who live and die by the Scrabble dictionary. Fatsis is a highly engaging writer, with a knack for turning small details into a larger story about competition and personal challenges.