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Description
Adventure is always escapist and often utopian, yet we find solidarity with others and Kafkaesque existential rabbit holes within the words we use to celebrate high-flying escapades. Even when adventures are small in the cosmic scope, the terminology of thrilling exploits promotes a life lived at a high pitch. This go-to glossary for the philosophical explorer delves into these contradictions and insights through more than five hundred terms, from A-OK to zoom. Semiotician Joshua Glenn sourced terms from Shakespeare, military and biker jargon, hip hop and surfer slang, survivalist and gamer subcultures, comic books, extreme sports, and beyond to ask questions about meaning and selfhood. This diverting survey, paired with copious illustrations by the acclaimed cartoonist Seth, is introduced by Mark Kingwell in a thought-provoking essay.
The Adventurer’s Glossary extends the entertaining and incisive critique found in the trio’s previous books, The Idler’s Glossary and The Wage Slave’s Glossary. This third instalment turns its lens to the language of risk, excitement, and journeying into the unknown, taking readers on their own semantic adventure.
Contributor Notes
Joshua Glenn is a consulting semiotician and co-author of several books, including Unbored: The Essential Field Guide to Serious Fun and Significant Objects. Mark Kingwell, professor of philosophy at the University of Toronto and a contributing editor of Harper’s, is the author of Wish I Were Here: Boredom and the Interface. Seth is a cartoonist and designer. His most recent book, Clyde Fans, is the first graphic novel to be nominated for a Scotiabank Giller Prize.
Editorial Reviews
"A case for 'adventure' as a literary as well as a quasi-athletic genre and attitude, with a philosopher's aerial approach, a set of literary recommendations, and a great deal of cultural history baked into a very skimmable A to Z." Stephanie Burt, author of Don't Read Poetry: A Book about How to Read Poems
"I read The Adventurer's Glossary with great interest and mounting enthusiasm; there is no book quite like it. I found surprises on nearly every page." Lucy Sante, author of Maybe the People Would Be the Times
“Even the committed non-adventurer will have plenty to chew on: the obscure terminology and attendant descriptions are just plain fun. For whoever chooses to embark on this campaign — and however they choose to navigate it — there’s lots to explore. Or, to borrow several of Glenn and Kingwell’s terms, The Adventurer’s Glossary is a crackerjack corker, so fire away, Flanagan!” Literary Review of Canada
