Puglisi and Ackerman have published eight thesauri for use by writers. Each begins with an introduction of 80-100 pages. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs, described in the introductory text and appendices, provides the theoretical framework. Aside from this front material, these thesauri are technical references to consult when addressing particular needs. Although I read the introduction (significant portions of each overlap) and reviewed the information provided for randomly selected traits, a more meaningful way to evaluate these works is to use them with an actual writing project.

Many emotions are covered, as are signs and signals associated with them. However, the same content appears repeatedly for numerous emotions. That is realistic, of course, because human emotions overlap. For example, we feel some of the same sensations when excited or frightened. Writers will find it necessary to combine various emotions to simulate complex reactions in real life. For example, in a story I am writing, a man feels attracted to a woman but questions the appropriateness of his response and fears a romantic overture would be rejected.

Readers seeking a list of plug-and-play examples will be disappointed. Instead, the thesauri provide valuable hints that stimulate authors’ thinking about their characters. ( )