Overlook Celebrates WALKING ENGLISH with Author David Crystal

Friends of The Overlook Press celebrated the paperback release of David Crystal's Walking English last night, at a reception hosted by publisher Peter Mayer. Walking English is a thoroughly enjoyable read - a mesmerizing and entertaining narrative account of his encounters with the language and its speakers from all over the world. Woven from personal reflections, historical allusions, and observations of travelers, this fascinating journey through the language we use every day will have readers thinking twice about each word they speak.

David Crystal, author of WALKING ENGLISH, on NPR's Talk of the Nation

Linguist and author David Crystal was recently interviewed on NPR's Talk of the Nation, discussing the paperback release of Walking English: A Journey in Search of Language: "Whether near his home in Wales or abroad, linguist David Crystal always travels with an insatiable curiosity about the English language. For his book, Walking English, he hit the road in search of new linguistic experiences. Crystal is fascinated by distinctive accents and towns with unusual names. He takes particular interest in intriguing turns of phrase old and new, whether they're rooted deep in Anglo-Saxon origins or fresh off a TV ad."

Visit NPR.org to read an excerpt from Walking English and listen to the interview.

More Stars for David Crystal's BY HOOK OR BY CROOK: A JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF ENGLISH

David Crystal's By Hook or By Crook: A Journey in Search of English has received a starred review in Booklist: "Crystal has been dubbed a latter-day Samuel Johnson, and with good reason, as evidenced by the long list of academic studies penned by the distinguished linguist, among them How Language Works. However, it is Professor Henry Higgins, popularized on stage and screen that he most often cites in this delightful book, which is part travelogue, part memoir, and part meditation on the intellectual and emotional underpinnings of language. What is most seductive about Crystal's narrative, though, is the fascinating glimpse it provides into the quicksilver mind of a man who is so knowledgeable and yet still so curious about our mercurial language."

David Crystal's BY HOOK OR BY CROOK Reviewed in Publishers Weekly

David Crystal's new book By Hook or By Crook: A Journey in Search of English is reviewed in this week's Publishers Weekly: "Linguist Crystal (How Language Works) elucidates the serendipitous nature of language study” as he meanders from Wales to San Francisco by way of England and Poland, taking every opportunity for linguistic exploration. A somewhat rambling travelogue is paired with Crystal’s idiosyncratic thought processes, and the book is full of descriptive anecdotes culminating in linguistic intrigue. Often something simple such as an impromptu “Good morning” from a Welsh shepherd is the trigger, in this case prompting the history of the shepherd’s “crook” of the book’s title. Crystal searches for—and finds—surprising topics in the lush cultures surrounding him, including the etymology of the name of a Welsh town which contains 58 letters (it’s Llanfairpwll for short), causing him to speculate on why words containing “consonants like m, n, l, and r” are considered “the most beautiful,” to discuss the “linguistic processes of a wordplayer” and to conclude with a version of Hamlet in which every word begins with “h.” In a conversational style that includes plenty of quirky facts, Crystal captures the “exploratory, seductive, teasing, quirky, tantalizing nature of language study,” and in doing so illuminates the fascinating world of words in which we live."

Languages Matter: U.N. Proclaims 2008 The International Year of Languages

The United Nations has proclaimed 2008 The International Year of Languages, "recognizing that genuine multilingualism promotes unity in diversity and international understanding." One of the world's foremost authorities on languages is David Crystal, author of Overlook's The Stories of English, How Language Works, and the forthcoming By Hook or By Crook: A Journey in Search of English. The new work is a departure for Crystal: an entertaining linguistic travelogue, and an attempt to capture the seductive, quirky, teasing, tantalizing nature of language itself. By Hook or By Crook will be published in May 2008.

HOW LANGUAGE WORKS in The St. Petersburg Times

Great notice for David Crystal's How Language Works in the Sunday St. Petersburg Times:

"Crystal's book is comprehensive, but nowhere near dull enough to be a textbook. It's a difficult thing he's doing here: trying to offer a lucid and entertaining study of how we communicate with one another. It's a story with no central character, but with lots of topics to cover and fecund with examples. The tone is conversational, and it gives us the feeling we're back in the classroom again, listening to a master lecturer.

Crystal isn't concerned with correcting our grammar or making us feel like language fools. He just wants us to think about how this works."

HOW LANGUAGE WORKS in THE NEW YORK TIMES and THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

Two great notices for David Crystal's How Language Works: Paul Dickson in The New York Times writes: "He succeeds again and again with clarity, wit and enthusiasm." And Union-Tribune Book Editor Arthur Salm offers that How Language Works "is pretty much the reference book we all need in order to extract the most calories out of all the other language books we'll no doubt continue to consume."

THE SUN spreads the good word on HOW LANGAUGE WORKS

Check out today's NEW YORK SUN for a great notice of David Crystal's HOW LANGUAGE WORKS. Sweet!