Bill Bryson writes frequently for National Geographic, and has also written for The New York Times, The Washington
Post, Granta, Esquire, and GQ. His previous books include A Dictionary of Troublesome Words, The Lost Continent,
The Mother Tongue, Neither Here nor There, and Made in America. He currently lives in Hanover, New Hampshire, with
his wife and children.
Review
"Complex and maddeningly illogical though it is, 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."
--Burt Hochburg, The New York Times Book Review
"Diverting and richly anecdotal...Bryson is an unalloyed fan who relishes the language's versatility, verb
hoard and vast vocabulary."
--Robert Taylor, Boston Globe
"Vastly informative and vastly entertaining...A scholarly and fascinating book."
--Fred S. Holley, Los Angeles Times
Harper Collins Web Site, February, 2001
Summary
Clever, insightful, often hilarious, The Mother Tongue is an engaging jaunt through the quirks and byways
of the world's most important -- and baffling -- of languages. Readers will learn why island, freight, and colonel
are spelled in such unphonetic ways; why four has a u in it but forty does not; why Noah Webster was a liar, a
cheat, and a plagiarist; and other fascinating facts about our mother tongue.
