Review by Choice Review
This collection brings together more than 70 brief readings illustrating the vitality and contentiousness of the American language. Beginning with Anne Winthrop's "Letter to Adam Winthrop" (1541) and ending with John McWhorter's "English Is a Living Language--Period" (2022), the selections reveal how Americans think about language. Stavans (Amherst) provides context in the introduction, in which he urges readers to think about the coming together of the American character writ small and large. The readings begin with a section sweeping from Colonial times to WW I. A second section covers the American century from about 1920 to 1980. A final grouping documents the period from 1980 to the present, when "every aspect of English has been put up for debate" (p. 4). Included in the three sections are familiar names: Adams and Jefferson, Webster and Mencken, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, and Walt Whitman. There are new voices as well, such as Lydia Huntly Sigourney, Sojourner Truth, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Yusuf Komunyakaa, Chang Rae-Lee, Kendrick Lamar, and the Sugarhill Gang. Each reading comes with a brief introduction, and Stavans also provides a useful time line of language milestones. This excellent collection will be useful in any college curriculum dealing with language and society. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Edwin L. Battistella, emeritus, Southern Oregon University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this sweeping anthology, Stavans (How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish), publisher of Restless Books, brings together texts that trace the development of American identity and vernacular. Through rich and rewarding selections--which span 1581--2022 and include the writings of founding fathers, the poems of Whitman and Cummings, the lyrics of Bob Dylan and Kendrick Lamar, and the tweets of Donald Trump--Stavans chronicles how "English became American." Highlighting the linguistic diversity of the U.S., Stavans includes pieces from Isaac Bashevis Singer on why he wrote in Yiddish, Mexican American memoirist Richard Rodriguez on his ambivalent feelings about having to learn "classroom English" as a child, and novelist Chang-Rae Lee on his mother's sense of alienation as a Korean immigrant learning English while living in New Jersey. Works by lawmakers illuminate the legislative episodes that shaped English's role in American life, such as John Adams's 1780 proposal for a U.S. equivalent to the Academie Francaise in Paris, and California senator Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa's 1982 floor speech defending his unsuccessful legislative amendment to make English the country's official language. The shrewdly selected offerings capture the kaleidoscopic variety of American English and attest to its power in shaping national identity. The result is a trenchant look at a nation perpetually in the process of making itself. (Jan.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Stavans brings together poets and presidents, rappers and novelists to show how language has shaped, and been shaped by, American culture. Language has always demonstrated the power to both unite and divide, sometimes simultaneously. It is also a field of remarkable richness, as this collection of essays, poems, speeches, and song lyrics shows. Stavans, a Mexican American author and academic, presents a broad spectrum of material, from the Pilgrims to the age of Twitter, tracking the evolution of American English. For a significant period of time, particularly in the early days of the republic, a common language was seen as necessary to hold a country of immigrants together. Despite numerous attempts to standardize the language, the strength of American English has always been its capacity to absorb new words and phrases. One major debate involved the role of patois in Black communities, which drew on slavery-era roots: Was it a way to assert independence or a reinforcement of negative stereotypes? This argument would continue for decades, although James Baldwin's 1979 essay, "If Black English Isn't a Language, Tell Me What Is?" (included here) was a powerful statement for the legitimacy of Black language. A similar theme emerged from Spanish-background writers: How can unity and diversity be balanced within a framework of language? Stavans' piece on Spanglish points to one path forward. While he acknowledges that America is now in "a time of passionate philological belligerence," as the particulars of language seem to be driving people apart more than bringing them together, Stavans might have offered more material about the impact of social media's acronyms and contractions on language development. Nevertheless, the book provides a sweeping historical narrative and solid context for further discussion. Among the many notable contributions are pieces from Sojourner Truth, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Thomas Wolfe, Zora Neale Hurston, William Faulkner, Richard Rodriguez, Toni Morrison, Joy Harjo, John McWhorter, and Kendrick Lamar. A useful resource for the classroom and anyone interested in the history of American English. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
