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An Exaltation of Larks
James Lipton
#UD1312
Paperback, 324 pages; 1993 (1968)
$16.00
 Members' Price: $13.60
The thesis of this book can be summed up very simply: when a group of ravens flaps by, you should, if you want to refer to their presence, say, "There goes an unkindness of ravens." Anything else would be wrong.
Etymological wits have long enjoyed concocting clever and sometimes cutting descriptors for aggregations of animals, people, and other things—from a "true love of turtledoves," to a "rascal of boys," to a "phumpher of schwas." Drawing heavily from the fifteenth-century Books of Venery, James Lipton traces the subtle history of such terms (and creates many of his own!) in his fantastically entertaining An Exaltation of Larks. Anyone who loves language will relish the humor and charm of this creative anthology of more than 1,000 nouns of multitude.
(CHH)
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