@dictionaryofobscuresorrows / www.dictionaryofobscuresorrows.com
I never imagined this was possible, but “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows” is now a New York Times bestseller! There are no words for how grateful I feel, knowing that I’m not alone. If you’re thinking of gifts for anyone you know who’s creative, thoughtful, or going through confusing times, you might want to order them a copy now: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1501153641?tag=simonsayscom
"The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows" is available in hardcover, with hundreds of new definitions: https://bit.ly/3z1RYvH
CONGRATS for the publication of the book !! I'm so glad this is finally happening ! I just have one question : how is are the contents organized ? Is it like a normal dictionary with entries in alphabetical order, or in order of creation like this tumblr, or something else entirely ?
Good question! The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is divided into six chapters, with definitions grouped according to theme:
1. Between Living and Dreaming (about worldview and desire) 2. The Interior Wilderness (selfhood and identity) 3. Montage of Attractions (relationships and intimacy) 4. Faces in a Crowd (society and alienation) 5. Boats Against the Current (time and memory) 6. Roll the Bones (uncertainty and chaos)
There’s also a postscript section called “After Words,” with some commentary on language and meaning, and what this project has meant to me personally.
The definitions are arranged in no particular order, with an emphasis on variety and unpredictability. Which feels fairly true to life, given the way your moods tend to drift through your mind like the weather.
This project started here on Tumblr more than 10 years ago. To all my followers, I can't thank you all enough for sticking with me through all these years. Because of your support, I'm proud to announce the book is finally here.
As of TODAY, "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows" is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and your local bookstore. It's a dictionary of made-up words for emotions that we all feel but don't have the words to express, filled with new definitions, illustrations, etymologies and essays that seek to capture the forgotten corners of the human condition.
Get your copy from Simon & Schuster: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/John-Koenig/9781501153648?utm_source=author_post&utm_medium=author_social&utm_campaign=the_dictionary_of_obscure_sorrows&utm_content= (click any of the links on the right)
Pre-order your copy of “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows” from Simon & Schuster: https://bit.ly/3z1RYvH
PRE-ORDER your copy of “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows” here, from Simon & Schuster: https://bit.ly/3z1RYvH (click on any of the links on the right) I think about this feeling a lot. Driving past your childhood home to show it to a friend, or pointing at a picture of a loved one you lost, only to realize that to them it’s just another house, just another face. Etymology: Aulasy is a contraction of auld lang syne, which is Scots for “times long past”—fragments of which are still present in aulasy, but the meaning has been lost.
Pre-order your copy of "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows" from Simon & Schuster: https://bit.ly/3z1RYvH
"Of course, you’d like to think you’ve got a clear view of the broader social landscape—but it’s possible you don’t have a clue. There are so many backstories that people keep to themselves, so many side conversations you don’t even know exist. Some of your friends are vastly different people when they’re one-on-one with each other, such that both would seem unrecognizable. Even now an unexpected pair of them might be helping each other through a crisis, or carrying on a silent feud, or having a fling that you won’t hear about until years later. But even if everything was open and honest, you’d still have to confront the ever-shifting labyrinth of interconnected relationships and personas and levels of intimacy you could scarcely even begin to fathom."
Pre-order "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows" book here: https://bit.ly/3z1RYvH
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows—the book. 12 years in the making. 300 pages, 70% new definitions, including longer video-like essays, otherworldly illustrations, and some thoughts on language and the meaning of life.
Pre-order your copy here (click any of the links on the right side of the page): https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Dictionary-of-Obscure-Sorrows/John-Koenig/9781501153648
Coming November 16, 2021 from Simon & Schuster.
adj. the wish that the modern world felt as epic as the one depicted in old stories and folktales—a place of tragedy and transcendence, of oaths and omens and fates, where everyday life felt like a quest for glory, a mythic bond with an ancient past, or a battle for survival against a clear enemy, rather than an open-ended parlor game where all the rules are made up and the points don’t matter.
adj. astonished to think back on the bizarre sequence of accidents that brought you to where you are today—as if you’d spent years bouncing down a Plinko pegboard, passing through a million harmless decision points, any one of which might’ve changed everything—which makes your long and winding path feel fated from the start, yet so unlikely as to be virtually impossible.
n. the state of not knowing how you really feel about something, which forces you to sift through clues hidden in your behavior, as if you were some other person—noticing a twist of acid in your voice, an obscene amount of effort put into something trifling, or an inexplicable weight on your shoulders that makes it difficult to get out of bed.
n. a friendship that can lie dormant for years only to pick right back up instantly, as if no time had passed since you last saw each other.
v. intr. feeling the tranquil pleasure of being near a gathering but not quite in it—hovering on the perimeter of a campfire, chatting outside a party while others dance inside, resting your head in the backseat of a car listening to your friends chatting up front—feeling blissfully invisible yet still fully included, safe in the knowledge that everyone is together and everyone is okay, with all the thrill of being there without the burden of having to be.
pâro n. the feeling that no matter what you do is always somehow wrong—as if there’s some obvious way forward that everybody else can see but you, each of them leaning back in their chair and calling out helpfully, "colder, colder, colder..."
Brand new episode of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.
n. the frustration of being stuck in just one body, that inhabits only one place at a time, which is like standing in front of the departures screen at an airport, flickering over with strange place names like other people's passwords, each representing one more thing you'll never get to see before you die—and all because, as the arrow on the map helpfully points out, you are here.
n. weariness with the same old issues that you’ve always had—the same boring flaws and anxieties you’ve been gnawing on for years, which leaves them soggy and tasteless and inert, with nothing interesting left to think about, nothing left to do but spit them out and wander off to the backyard, ready to dig up some fresher pain you might have buried long ago.
