Compilation – DaneCobain.com

Aaron Peckham – Urban Dictionary | Review

Title: Urban Dictionary

Author: Aaron Peckham

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 343

Rating: 7/10

Aaron Peckham – Mo’ Urban Dictionary

Aaron Peckham is the founder of UrbanDictionary.com, and this book is his first compilation of the best of the best user-submitted words to join the site’s database. As such, it’s basically a physical dictionary for street slang, although it’s already kind of out of date.

It’s fun, just like the website is – I wouldn’t say that the words included here are actually the best of the best, but the author has at least weeded out most of the rubbish ones, even if he’s not really the author because all of the submissions were crowdsourced from the community.

Imagine, if you will, somebody hitting a big ‘random‘ button a couple of thousand times, logging all of the results that came up, and then alphabetising them and putting them into book form. That’s basically what we have here, and I’m not saying that that’s a bad thing. After all, isn’t a regular dictionary pretty much the same thing?

Aaron Peckham

So yeah, buy this if you fancy a bit of a laugh and you’ve used the site before, or if you grew up using it like I did. Who knows? If you’re a regular user, you might even see your own definition in there. But the chances of that are pretty slim, seeing as there are so many words on the site and this book was published in 2005, so you’d need a historical entry to make the roster.

Still, it’s worth owning, if only to show to your (geeky) friends. For a bit of extra fun, claim that the book came out before the website and see if they buy it. And if you enjoy reading and flicking through it, then who knows? Perhaps you’ll even buy the sequel – I know I did! No idea if there was a third book though, I kind of lost interest after that. The gimmick only works for so long, and for different lengths of time for different people. Good luck, folks.

Urban Dictionary

Click here to buy Urban Dictionary.

Hugh Greene and Graham Greene – The Spy’s Bedside Book | Review

Title: The Spy’s Beside Book

Author: Hugh Greene and Graham Greene

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 240

Rating: 7/10

Hugh and Graham Greene – The Spy’s Bedside Book

If you ever want to become a spy or a secret agent then boy, is this the book for you. Written by Graham Greene, a man who gained international renown as a writer and who also happens to have dabbled with espionage, and his brother Hugh, it’s also introduced by Stella Rimington, the former head of MI5. So convincing is it, in fact, that the anthology was originally bought in bulk by East German intelligence, and there’s also a form at the back offering trade prices to members of the secret services of other foreign nations.

The most interesting thing here, though, is the range of talent that’s featured in this compilation of short stories about espionage – Ian Fleming and John Buchan are here, but so are William Blake, D. H. Lawrence and Thomas Mann. Combine that with the fantastic story-lines and the special details that the authors included, like the way that the agents code their messages and avoid deception, and you’re on to a winner.

This collection won’t necessarily cater to everyone, but it will at least cater to most – whether you’re a fan of one of the authors inside, whether you’re a fan of Graham Greene and you trust his judgement or whether you’re just an espionage aficionado, you’ll be happy.