Coming to Terms

When William Safire delineates the difference between misinformation and disinformation or ';distances himself' from cliches, people sit up and take notice. Which is not to say that Safire's readers always take the punning pundit at his word: they don't, and he's got the letters to prove it. Among the entries in Coming to Terms, this all-new collection of Safire's ';On Language' columns, you'll read the repartee of Lexicographic Irregulars great and small. John Haim of New York sets in concrete what properly to call a cement truck, while Charlton Heston challenges an interpretation of Hamlet's ';to take arms against a sea of troubles' and Gene Shalit passes along his favorite Yogi Berra-ism. Bringing them all together are dozens of Safire's most illuminating and witty columns, from ';Right Stuffing' to ';Getting Whom.' When William Safire comes to terms, there's never a dull moment.