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Original Essays | May 1, 2013
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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionsThe Mother Tongueby Bill Bryson
Synopses & ReviewsFrom Powells.com:"Everything, it seems, is interesting to Bill Bryson. The marvel is that he can make it all interesting to us....Bryson's book, Mother Tongue...is the one that convinced me he could probably write informatively and with humor about anything. I mean, who ever heard of a Linguistics study with laughs on every page?" Dave Weich, Powells.com
Publisher Comments:With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson--the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent--brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.
Review:"Vastly informative and vastly entertaining....A scholarly and fascinating book." Fred S. Holley, Los Angeles Times
Review:"Complex and maddeningly illogical though it is, English is spoken by more than 300 million people around the world....Its story has been told before, but seldom as deftly or as memorably....An enthralling excursion....A motherlode of delectable trivia." Burt Hochburg, The New York Times Book Review
Synopsis:The author of the acclaimed The Lost Continent now steers us through the quirks and byways of the English language. We learn why island, freight, and colonel are spelled in such unphonetic ways, why four has a u in it but forty doesn't, plus bizarre and enlightening facts about some of the patriarchs of this peculiar language.
Description:Includes bibliographical references (p. 247-255) and index.
About the AuthorBill Bryson's many books include, most recently In a Sunburned Country, as well as I'm a Stranger Here Myself, A walk in the Woods,Neither Here Nor There, Made in America,andThe Mother Tongue.He edited The Best American Travel Writing 2000.Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he lived in England for almost two decades. He now lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, with his wife and four children.
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