Made in America

Bryson, Bill

ISBN 10: 0001048082 ISBN 13: 9780001048089

Publisher: HarperCollins Entertainment, 1995

Synopsis

The world’s most popular travel writer takes a humourous look at just what it means to be ‘American’, from the Pilgrim Fathers to the hamburger and beyond.

Made in America describes the history of the English language in America, by exploring the social and economic pressures driving its rapid departure from standard English.

There’s a dry statement if ever there was one, but if there were no more than that to Made in America, would we have chosen Mike McShane to read it? Of course not, but there is and we did.

That’s not to say Made in America doesn’t trace the development of American English. It does, from the Pilgrim Fathers’ need to find new vocabulary for new experiences right through to the twentieth century’s advertising-speak via Tom Paine’s Common Sense, the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, the War of Jenkins’ Ear and so on. Of course, the history of a language is also the history of its speakers, and Bill Bryson illuminates just what it means, and, indeed, all the many things it has meant over the course of four centuries, to be American.

So you want to know why we chose Mike McShane? Well, because, like Mr McShane himself, Made in America is generous, engaging, perceptive, vivid, wise and above all very, very funny. If you want to know more about Jenkin’s Ear, or why Mrs Stuyvesant Fish drove over her servant three times in the space of a few minutes, or even why we say ‘Gordon Bennett!’, you’ll just have to buy the tape.

About this title

Review:

Bill Bryson's "Informal History of the English Language in the United States" is, in a word, fascinating. After reading this tour de force, it's clear that a nation's language speaks volumes about its true character: you are what you speak. Bryson traces America's history through the language of the time, then goes on to discuss words culled from everyday activities: immigration, eating, shopping, advertising, going to the movies, and others.

Made in America will supply you with interesting facts and cocktail chatter for a year or more. Did you know, for example, that Teddy Roosevelt's "speak softly and carry a big stick" credo has its roots in a West African proverb? Or that actor Walter Matthau's given name is Walter Mattaschanskayasky? Or that the supposedly frigid Puritans--who called themselves "Saints," by the way--had something called a pre-contract, which was a license for premarital sex? Made in America is an excellent discussion of American English, but what makes the book such a treasure is that it offers much, much more.

Review:

"A treat ... filled with surprises ... a literate exploration ofwhy we use -- or mangle-our native tongue."-- "USA Today""Plain fun ... a terrific book, likely to make its readerschuckle if not guffaw ... Bryson manages to demolish somecherished American myths ... If more high schools used thisas their history text, the course might be one of the morepopular ones in school."-- "Denver Post""Romping through history and folk customs, Bill Bryson hascompiled a highly entertaining book about the growth ofAmerican English ... Enjoy it, learn from it, laugh at thefoibles of our peculiar tongue."-- "Atlanta Journal and Constitution""A wonderfully entertaining and informative history ofAmerican English, of how it and the country and its peopledeveloped ... Bryson captured me easily within the first 20pages of his engaging, information-packed book."-- "Des Moines Register""A treasure trove of trivia about American culturepast and present."-- "Publishers Weekly""Read this lively treatment of the development of American English . . . this book is no lemon--It's a peach!"-- "People"From slavery, immigration and Westward expansion to advertising, sex and shopping malls, he provides scads of fascinating, often little-known facts and anecdotes that, far from glutting his reader's appetites, should leave them hungry for more."-- "Wall Street Journal"Delightful . . . relentlessly, exuberantly informative . . . a potted history of the United States, presenting aspects of American life from cooking to swearing, from warring to shopping."-- "Washington Post Book World

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins Entertainment
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0001048082
• ISBN 13: 9780001048089
• Binding: Audio Cassette