If you’ve yet to discover the passion, humor, and enthusiasm with which Bill Bryson explores his topics, you’re in for a treat. His latest work, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, hit shelves this past October, and in addition to becoming an instant New York Times bestseller, the Washington Post also hailed it as one of the year’s most notable nonfiction books. Among today’s most prolific nonfiction authors, Bryson has penned more than 20 books about language, science, history, and his adventures traveling the globe.įueled by his insatiable curiosity, Bryson’s books are a testament to his love for knowledge and his ability to distill even the most complex topics into simple explanations anyone can understand.

'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.If you’ve read any amount nonfiction over the past 30 years, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with Bill Bryson. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries. With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson-the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent-brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language. With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience and sheer fun of the English language.įrom the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries. 'Vastly informative and vastly entertaining.A scholarly and fascinating book.' - Los Angeles Times

We learn why island, freight, and colonel are spelled in such unphonetic ways, why four has a u in it but forty doesn't, plus bizarre and enlightening facts about some of the patriarchs of this peculiar language.

About the Book The author of the acclaimed The Lost Continent now steers us through the quirks and byways of the English language.

Bill bryson english the mother tongue