By Hook or by Crook

Description

David Crystal has been described by The Times Higher Education Supplement as a "latter-day Samuel Johnson." Now in a delightfully decisive journey through the groves and thickets of the English language, he combines personal reflections, historical allusions, and traveler' s observations to create a mesmerizing and entertaining narrative account of his encounters with the language and its speakers. Starting in his British home and moving all the way to Poland and off to San Francisco, Crystal encounters numerous linguistic side roads that he cannot resist exploring. All is subject to Crystal's inquisitive exploration -- from pubs to trains to Tolkien -- and each digression casts new light on the development of English as it is spoken today. By Hook or by Crook is a linguistic travelogue like no other, an attempt to capture the seductive, quirky, teasing, tantalizing nature of language itself -- a jaunty, Bill Bryson-esque exploration of language by our foremost expert on the subject. - Jacket flap.

Description

Combines personal reflections, historical allusions, and traveler's observations about the author's encounters with language and its users throughout the English-speaking world.

Subjects

Other Editions

• By Hook or by Crook: A Journey in Search of EnglishHardcoverOverlook Press2008-01-01
• By Hook or By CrookThe Overlook Press2007-01-01
• BY HOOK OR BY CROOK: A JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF ENGLISH.HARPER PRESS2007-01-01
• Walking EnglishHarperCollins Publishers Limited2007-01-01
• By hook or by crookHarperPress2007-01-01
• By Hook or by CrookHarperCollins Publishers Limited2008-01-01