Paul Dickson

I'm a freelance writer of more than 55 non-fiction books and countless articles on a wide variety of subjects from toasting to ice cream to baseball to slang to Sputnik. I hope you'll explore the site to find out more about my work. Please keep in mind that it's a work in progress which I'll be updating as necessary.

Here's the latest news:

I'm currently working on a biography of the iconoclastic and controversial team owner Bill Veeck, tentatively titled: The Life and Good Times of Bill Veeck -- The Man Who Changed Baseball.It will be published by Walker Publishing Co, probably in mid 2011.

2009 was a very busy year. I had five books come out.

First, I'm delighted to announce that the 3rd edition of The Dickson Baseball Dictionary came out on March 2nd and is now available in bookstores and online. It tops out at 974 pages and 4+ pounds! The first edition came out 25 years ago and each edition has grown in size and scope with the help of many baseball and linguistic experts along the way.
I also have a website just for the dictionary. Check it out for reviews of this edition, an audio interview with me, a sampler of terms and more at www.baseballdictionary.com.

Second, I had another (much smaller) baseball book, entitled The Unwritten Rules of Baseball come out on March 24th.

Third, I wrote a Space Dictionary under contract with NASA which was published by John Hopkins University Press.

Fourth, Drunk: The Definitive Drinker's Dictionary was published in October by Melville House. This is not a celebration of the state of inebriation but rather of the euphemistic glory of the English language

And last, my book Toasts was brought out in a new, updated edition by Bloomsbury USA in November. I've also got a new website up about toasting. It's Toastsbook.com and tells you all you need to know about the history of toasting, what makes a good toast and how and when to make one. It also gives lots of examples by occasion. Click the link on the left and take a look and click the link on the right for information about my the book.

In more book news:

My co-author, Douglas Evelyn, and I have a newly revised edition of On This Spot: Pinpointing the Past in Washington, DC out which is available on Amazon and other bookstores as well. I was on the Kojo Nambi show just before the inauguration to discuss the book and the history of many "spots" in Washington,DC.

A new edition of Sputnik: The Shock of the Century will be published by Walker & Company, 2011.

Walker & Company has also republished The Joy of Keeping Score, in a good looking new cover with a new introduction by Tim Kirkjian of ESPN.

If you want to be hip and "in the know" check out an updated and expanded version of my book, Slang: The Topical Dictionary of Americanisms, also published by Walker & Company, now available in bookstores.


For a list of all the books I've written, many of which are still available in bookstores, click on "All My Books." Though a lot of the older ones are now out of print, I have extra copies of many of them and would be happy to sell them directly--autographed if you wish. Simply e-mail me for a list of available titles and prices.

Check out the "Events" section for information about other upcoming opportunities to "meet the author" at a book signing or speaking engagement.

My literary agent is Deborah Grosvenor (deborah@​kwlit.com). She is in Washington, DC but is with the KNEERIM and WILLIAMS Agency in Boston, MA.

If you have comments or questions please e-mail me and I'll reply as soon as I can.