Author Guide · Participatory Journalism
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Stefan Fatsis set out to write about competitive Scrabble players and became one, memorising word lists until he was a rated tournament player. Later he spent a summer as a placekicker in the Denver Broncos' training camp, and most recently he embedded at Merriam-Webster as a lexicographer-in-training, until some of his definitions went into the dictionary. This guide covers all four of his books in order, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 4 books · Participatory journalism · 1995–2025 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Stefan Fatsis has published four books: Wild and Outside (1995), about an independent minor baseball league; Word Freak (2001), about competitive Scrabble; A Few Seconds of Panic (2008), about his time as a kicker with the Denver Broncos; and Unabridged (2025), about the making of the dictionary at Merriam-Webster. The last three are written from the inside, as a participant.
Where to Start with Stefan Fatsis
If you want the famous one
→ Word Freak (2001).
If you want the most recent
→ Unabridged (2025).
If you want sport
→ A Few Seconds of Panic (2008).
All 4 Stefan Fatsis Books, in Order
Wild and Outside
A season with the Northern League, an independent minor baseball league in the American Midwest, and the players, owners and fans who kept it going outside the major-league system.
Word Freak
Fatsis went into the world of tournament Scrabble to write about its obsessive players and ended up becoming one, memorising word lists and climbing the ratings. It became a New York Times bestseller.
A Few Seconds of Panic
In 2006 Fatsis joined the Denver Broncos' training camp as a placekicker, and wrote about life inside an NFL team from the bottom of the roster.
Unabridged
Fatsis embedded at Merriam-Webster as a lexicographer-in-training, learned how definitions are written and got a few of his own into the dictionary, while telling the history of the company and the threat that search engines and artificial intelligence now pose to it.
How Many Books Did Stefan Fatsis Write?
Four books between 1995 and 2025.
- Sport — Wild and Outside (1995) and A Few Seconds of Panic (2008). Read the entries →
- Words — Word Freak (2001) and Unabridged (2025). Read the entries →
In What Order to Read Stefan Fatsis
His books are not a series. Word Freak and Unabridged make a natural pair, twenty-four years apart, about people who love words more than is good for them.
A reading path
1. Word Freak (2001)
2. Unabridged (2025)
3. A Few Seconds of Panic (2008)
4. Wild and Outside (1995)
Quick facts about Stefan Fatsis
- Career
- Sports reporter at The Wall Street Journal; commentator on sport for NPR
- Podcast
- Co-host of Slate's Hang Up and Listen
- Became
- A rated tournament Scrabble player, while reporting Word Freak
- Books
- 4, from Wild and Outside (1995) to Unabridged (2025)
How Stefan Fatsis Writes: Inside the Obsession
Fatsis's method is to take part. In each of his later books he moves from observer to participant, competing in Scrabble tournaments, kicking in an NFL camp, writing definitions at Merriam-Webster, so that his own progress becomes the thread of the story.
He is drawn to subcultures defined by obsession, and his books are as much about the people who devote their lives to a game or a dictionary as about the game or dictionary itself.
Frequently asked questions about Stefan Fatsis's books
How many books has Stefan Fatsis written?
Stefan Fatsis has published four books: Wild and Outside (1995), Word Freak (2001), A Few Seconds of Panic (2008) and Unabridged (2025).
What is Word Freak about?
Word Freak (2001) is about the world of competitive Scrabble and its obsessive players. Fatsis started as a reporter and became a rated tournament player himself.
What is Unabridged about?
Unabridged (2025) is about the time Fatsis spent at Merriam-Webster as a lexicographer-in-training, and about the history of the dictionary and the threat it faces from search engines and artificial intelligence.
Did Stefan Fatsis play in the NFL?
He spent the 2006 training camp with the Denver Broncos as a placekicker and played in practice, which he describes in A Few Seconds of Panic (2008), but he did not make the regular-season team.
Footnotes
Bibliography last verified 1 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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