Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
fascinated (adj.), fascination (n.)
When fascinated combines with a preposition, it most frequently takes by, whether the object of the preposition is human or nonhuman: She has long been fascinated by stamp collecting. He has long been fascinated by her. Other Standard combinations include with, about, at, and over, usually with nonhuman objects of the prepositions: They were fascinated with [at, about, over] his stories. Fascinated also takes to plus an infinitive, as in She was fascinated to hear about their experiences in Africa.
The noun fascination can cause ambiguity in sentences such as She has a fascination for me, which could mean either that “I am fascinating to her” or that “She is fascinating to me.” Let context help you avoid such ambiguity, or, better, let syntax do it: choose the verb instead of the noun, as in either She fascinates me or I fascinate her. Note that fascination can be considered hyperbole; some also consider it gushy.
