Charles Harrington Elster

CHARLIE'S LATEST: What in the Word? Wordplay, Word Lore, and Answers to Your Peskiest Questions About Language. "The Wordbook of the Year!"— Sol Steinmetz

Test of Time: A Novel Approach to the SAT and ACT. The challenging companion to Tooth and Nail, with more than 2,000 test words.

Tooth and Nail: A Novel Approach to the SAT. More than 250,000 copies sold!

America's # 1 vocabulary-building program.

"The most readable, sensible and prescriptive guide to the words that trip us up." — William Safire

A lighthearted guide to some of the English language's most unusual (and unusually useful) words.

Upcoming Events

If you'd like to book me for an interview or invite me to speak, you can contact me by clicking on WRITE TO CHARLIE under "Quick Links" in the sidebar below.

Radio Interviews

KOA Denver, the Mike Rosen show, Monday, December 14, 2009, for an hour beginning at 10:00 a.m. Mountain, 9:00 a.m. Pacific, and noon Eastern time.

You can hear the show streaming live, and you can also listen to a podcast later at www.850KOA.com. Click on Shows, then Mike Rosen, then Rosen Replay.

Book Signings & Speaking Events

Selected Works

Books
Articles
Seven Steps to Word Power
Timeless tips for aspiring vocabulary builders.
The Wrong Pro-NOUN-ciation
Charlie beats up on Merriam-Webster in the Boston Globe.
The Grandiloquent Gumshoe
At a loss for words? Read one of Charlie's guest "On Language" columns for The New York Times Magazine.
Things Are Against Us
Read Charlie's guest "On Language" piece about resistentialism.
Charlie's Dictionary Recommendations
Shopping for a new dictionary? Here's some sage advice.
Celling Out
Charlie's brave new words for a wireless world.
A Little Latin Is a Lovely Thing
Read one of Charlie's articles in SPELL/Binder.
Wordplay
Read a profile of Charlie in San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles.
Letters
A Way with Words:
Charlie explains why he left the public radio show.