Rate this book

The Years Of Talking Dangerously (2009)

by Geoffrey Nunberg(Favorite Author)

3.44 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1586487450 (ISBN13: 9781586487454)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

PublicAffairs

review 1: A collection of newspaper pieces and NPR commentaries on the foibles of modern English usage by the author, a linguist at Berkeley. The pieces - mostly on the uses of symbolic language by people with political points to make, some on how technology changes usage - are witty and erudite, and show Nurnberg's firm grasp on the political zeitgeist.He makes his arguments in a breezy, engaging style; for example, in discussing how "conversation" can be used to mean more of a lecture than a discourse, he says, "when someone calls for a conversation about a specific topic... it sounds like a request for an open exchange of views, but you sense that most of the script has already been written." He can be amusing in one piece, incisive the next. Not only is he an expert on how peop... morele talk, but he appears to be well-versed in how they think as well; it's full of pointed remarks such as "After a thousand years of social inequality and natural disasters, the English language still doesn't have a word for someone who steals a loaf of bread to feed his family."
review 2: I love linguists, and I especially love Geoffrey Nunberg. He has a way of choosing everyday words - in this book, mostly political words - and combining linguistic history with social commentary. I'm always entertained by him, but this book - essays from the last years of the Bush presidency - fall a little flat now. Taken in one large dose instead of the intended individual pieces, it's too much to take in. But gems abound. The essay on wikipedia is brilliant (my favorite quote: "This isn't right. This isn't even wrong.") and the essay on "lifestyle" was spot-on. Nunberg is so entertaining, but I'd like to read something more current, and in smaller doses. less

Download links for: The Years of Talking Dangerously

Advertising