The heart of the written word:

Joseph Campbell described Phil Cousineau as a five-tool threat—a writer, photographer, filmmaker, editor, and teacher. As the great Huston Smith says, "Cousineau's love affair with words in contagious." From the medieval scourge of abbey-lubbers to the unpronounceable  floccinaucinihilipilification (considered the longest English word by the Oxford English Dictionary) to the Maori ghost-word zzxjoanw. Cousineau will clear up the bafflegab and pandemonium, and remind you that you too are a philomath (or at the very least a Phil-o-phile). And don't miss Phil Cousineau's Global Spirit on PBS, described by series host John Cleese as "the world's only internal travel show." Phil's Bay Area Tour: 9/2: Bird and Beckett, San Francisco - 2pm 9/4: Books, Inc., Berkeley - 7pm 9/6: Mrs. Dalloway's, Berkeley - 7:30pm 9/7: Avid Reader, Davis - 7:30pm 9/8: Reader's Books, Sonoma - 2:30pm 9/11: Towne Center Books, Pleasanton - 7pm 9/12: Book Passage Marin, Corte Madera - 7pm 9/13: City Lights, San Francisco - 7pm More · Buy The Painted Word  A Treasure Chest of Remarkable Words and Their Origins by Phil Cousineau Deepak Chopra calls author Phil Cousineau a "word wizard" and NPR's Susan Stamberg hailed his Wordcatcher as a must-read "because it's fun." Cousineau, linguistic detective and dictionary delver, is back with a priceless treasury of word stories and literary obscura that will enchant any lover of language. The words themselves range from the commonplace like biscuit to loanwords like chaparral; from word-reversals such as silly, to words well worthy of revival, such as carrytale. Cousineau's journey through the history and mystery of words will enlighten as it delights. "Cousineau makes us Argus-eyed…you definitely need this book." —Lemony Snicket, author of A Series of Unfortunate Events Phil Cousineau PHIL COUSINEAU is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, teacher and editor, independent scholar and travel leader, storyteller and TV host. Express Your Words with Viva Editions! And be sure to check out Phil Cousineau's other book Wordcatcher, as well as the ever expressive Arthur Plotnik's books The Elements of Expression and Better Than Great. And write down your true parenting stories with Use Your Words by Kate Hopper. Viva Editions, an imprint of Cleis Press, 2246 Sixth St., Berkeley, CA 94710