The Reading Warehouse

Do you chuckle over "seriously funny" oxymorons? Redundancies are the mirror image - less noticed but just as amusing From "unsolved mystery" to "artificial prosthesis," don't let the book's title fool you - redundancies are totally necessary They turn 2D black and white language into 3D living color. That's why we are "surrounded on all sides" by "tiny specks," "usual routines," "foreign imports," "brief moments," and "annoying pests" (not to mention "hot water heaters").

A must-have for language lovers, this unique cornucopia of insightful rumination turns the spotlight on the tricks that language uses to communicate more than just the "actual facts." Over 101 illustrations will have you chuckling and nodding with approval as you celebrate the playfulness of language through time and space -- from the creation of the universe (by the "original inventor") to a couple from the future who (foolishly) travel back in time to 2020, only to discover that great great grandmother's wedding is on Zoom. You'll get life-changing advice from Angela, who treats a "prickly cactus" traumatized by a physically distant mom, and from Amy, a six-year-old child psychologist and "knowledgeable expert" on hide-and-seek therapy. Then there's alchemist Fred Bunson, President of the Flat Earth Society, who acknowledges that the planet is not "totally flat," and 88 year-old Zen Master Milton Butsukei who "lifts up" 500 lbs. in the Inter-Monastic Clean and Levitate Competition. Even Hamlet shows up at one point to "pick and choose."

Each purchase is guaranteed to be an "identical copy" and the perfect gift for someone who already has everything (including this book). Get the 2020 edition before they're "past history" or you'll have to wait for the 2121 edition. 😀

About the author: Michael Macy left his family's tobacco farm at age 17 for the inside-out world of Harvard Yard. Currently the Goldwin Smith Professor of Arts and Sciences at Cornell, his obsession with redundancies reflects a deeper fascination with language as a window into what people are thinking and feeling and how they interact. He commutes to Cornell from Canada where he cooks, skis, works on his latte art, debates his teenage daughter, and writes an occasional sonnet to his wife.