In the News: New OUP Language and Writing Books

I already have a reading list that’s longer than my life expectancy could reasonably be expected to support. But that rarely keeps me from adding books to the list. Oxford University Press has provided the two most recent additions: Speaking American: A History of English in the United States by the late Richard W. Bailey and Vernacular Eloquence: What Speech Can Bring to Writing by Peter Elbow. 

In Speaking American, Bailey examines the history and evolution of American English, focusing on a particular geographic center for each half-century from 1600 to today (with the last “geographic center” being Cyberspace). Ben Zimmer appreciates the “many fascinating linguistic vignettes” in the book, particularly for Boston (1650-1700). Chris Tucker considers the New York (1850-1900) chapter to be one of the best. In the New York Times Book Review, John McWhorter identifies several aspects of the book that he finds unsatisfying, but concludes that it is a “handy tour” that “is useful in imprinting a lesson sadly obscure to too many: as Bailey puts it, ‘Those who seek stability in English seldom find it; those who wish for uniformity become laughingstocks.’” 

Declaring that standard written English “is no one's mother tongue,” Elbow's Vernacular Eloquence gives techniques for using the "wisdom of the tongue" to produce better writing. According to Stephen Dodson of LanguageHat, Elbow’s suggestions are not as “simplistic as ‘just write the way your talk’” but, rather, examine ways in which the “sound of your words” can be used to “improve your writing, at both the composing and revising stages.” Elbow believes we are moving toward a "vernacular literacy," in which “writing will no longer be judged against two standards as it is now: correctness and quality. The only standard for both writers and readers will be the primal one: is the writing any good?” 

Perhaps, if I live a good life, eat right, and exercise, I’ll live long enough to get to these most recent additions to book lists and stacks. Perhaps I’ll even be around to see how this “vernacular literacy” might work in a copyeditor’s world. 

Image courtesy of Ginny (ginnerobot).