The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way Contributor(s): Bryson, Bill (Author), McLaughlin, Stephen (Read by) |
|
ISBN: 1504715217 ISBN-13: 9781504715218 Publisher: HarperCollins OUR PRICE: $35.99 Product Type: Compact Disc - Other Formats Published: December 2015 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Language Arts & Disciplines - Humor | Form - Essays |
Physical Information: 1.1" H x 5.2" W x 5.8" (0.55 lbs) |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: 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. |
Contributor Bio(s): Bryson, Bill: - Bill Bryson is the New York Times bestselling author of At Home, A Walk in the Woods, The Lost Continent, Made in America, The Mother Tongue, A Short History of Nearly Everything--winner of the Aventis Prize--and various other works. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, he now lives in England, where he has worked for both the Times and Independent and written for most other major British and American publications. McLaughlin, Stephen: -Stephen McLaughlin was born in Washington, DC, in 1951 and grew up there and on a farm in the Virginia Piedmont. He studied English and philosophy and worked in theater as an actor and director. He has also worked as a librarian, a musician, a landscaper, a cab driver and dispatcher, a handyman, an artist, and a waiter, among other things. |