“Zealots” is Worth 48-pts with a Triple-Word-Score*

The other book about zealots I read was on a much lighter topic than religion, violence, polygamy and society:  Scrabble.

The book “Word Freak” from Stefan Fatsis chronicles the author’s foray into competitive Scrabble.  Initially, Fatsis (a Wall Street Journal reporter) had decided to cover competitive Scrabble from a human interest story – a get to know ‘em piece, but also one with a bit of “hey, look at these crazy obsessed folks” angle – and in the “walk a mile in a man’s shoes” idea, he begins playing competitively.  And he gets hooked.

Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive ScrabblePlayers

Stefan Fatsis

The book covers a couple of years of Fatsis’ obsession as he tries to climb the ladder towards the top ranks.  He’s a good writer and his self-observations are pretty funny as he goes from smirking observer to obsessed insider.  He interleaves his story with those of some of the more colorful players that he meets and gets to know.  These folks are really savants – memorizing tens of thousands of words, and analyzing (and re-analyzing) game-strategy – as much as any chess champion.  The ultimate back-handed compliment is “pretty good for a kitchen table player”.  It's a really fun, easy read, and I recommend it for anyone that enjoys the game.

This has been especially fun for me since (as many of you know) I’ve been playing a fair amount of online Scrabble these days – the book was lent to me by a friend who routinely wipes the board with me.  Fortunately, I’ve got enough other things going on in life that I probably won’t fall into a pit of obsession about just-one-thing (like the players described in the book), but memorizing a few word lists couldn’t hurt, right?

* I know, I know – there’s a DLS in there and if you play all seven letters you get an extra 50 points, but I was going for simple.