The Mother Tongue
“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.”
New York Times Book Review
A New York Times Bestseller
A Book-of-the-Month Club Selection
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.
Praise