Books To Jump Up and Down Over
Magic Hours by Tom Bissell: This marvelous collection of essays chronicles everything from film shoots to novelists rescued from oblivion. (The essay on the Underground Literary Alliance, with its portrait of raucous factions, unexpectedly reveals how soft today's literary world has become.) But if you peer between the cracks of these smart pieces, you may very well see how cultural lives are formed from the most unexpected life choices. And as we follow Bissell's development as a writer over the years, that goes for Bissell as well. (Bat Segundo interview with Bissell)
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway: Harkaway's latest novel greatly improves on his previous book, The Gone-Away World, which I'm already on record as praising. Angelmaker adopts genre elements without ever feeling like a genre book, and it leads me to believe that Harkaway is well on his way to a narrative grace close to China Miéville's. Yet inexplicably this very fun book, which includes an eightysomething badass named Edie Banister, a mysterious mechanical object that may destroy the world, farcical scenarios involving lawyers and the police, and some unexpectedly moving moments about fatherhood, doesn't appear to be getting much attention in American newspapers. Nothing from the snobs at The New York Times Book Review, nothing from The Washington Post. And since I can't get Harkaway on Bat Segundo, I hope this Jump Up and Down mention gets you hopping as well.
The Age of Insight by Eric Kandel: Unless you're really pressed for time, forget Jonah Lehrer. If you want to understand creativity and its relationship to neuroscience, then the bowtie-wearing Nobel laureate is your man. In addition to being a physically beautiful book (you will drool over many of the paintings), there are helpful overviews on optical illusions, science, biographical backgrounds, and many vital figures from the Vienna Secession. Kandel's enthusiasm (and his call for greater unity between the humanities and science) is contagious.
Language Archive
-
Night of the Pirahã — It Could Have Been Any Night
Posted on May 10, 2006 | 1 CommentDer Spiegel: “The language is incredibly spare. The Pirahã use only three pronouns. They hardly use any words associated with time and past tense verb conjugations don’t exist. Apparently colors... -
Personally, I Blame That Uncle Grambo Guy
Posted on May 5, 2006 | No CommentsGuardian: “Ancient English cliches and expressions are being mangled by the culture of cut and paste and the spread of unchecked writing on the internet. According to the Oxford English... -
Equivocation: Are These Folks Really Aware?
Posted on April 28, 2006 | No CommentsTerry Teachout offers some interesting thoughts about the way politicians. publicists, and people for the most part fail to state what’s really on their mind, tying it all in to... -
And All This Time I Was Thinking That Export Processing Zones Were the Chief Culprit
Posted on April 24, 2006 | No CommentsIHT: “Some 6,500 languages are spoken in the world today. And according to the 2000 census, you can hear at least 92 of them on the streets of New York.... -
Well, Fuck Me: The Swearing Festival Report
Posted on February 20, 2006 | 2 CommentsI had spent a few days recovering from a cold and general malaise. The time had come to get out of the house or die trying. The crowd drinks and... -
The Oxford Comma
Posted on February 9, 2006 | 27 CommentsBooksquare has written a passionate defense of the serial comma, pointing to Brenda Coulter’s equally vivacious endorsement of a puncutation mark too frequently used by investment bankers. While I admire... -
A Question for Language & Audio Geeks
Posted on February 5, 2006 | 4 CommentsIn the course of engineering audio, I’ve noticed that the bilabial plosive (meaning the b sound when voiced and the p sound when voiceless) is sometimes recorded with too much... -
Link Dump for Later Informational Purposes
Posted on January 19, 2006 | No CommentsWord Phrase Orgins I Wordorigins.org Linguistic study guide Another phrase origin list The Word Detective Ye Olde English Sayings -
The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on the Net
Posted on November 9, 2005 | No CommentsIf, like me, you are obsessed with dialects, then William Labov’s project, Atlas of North American English is a really handy tool. You can click on interactive maps to determine... -
Not the Labial Flap You’re Thinking
Posted on November 2, 2005 | No CommentsVia Language Hat comes this exciting news: A new phonetical symb0l, the first in twelve years, has been inducted into the IPA. The symbol is a right hook V (pictured... -
Strunk and White: Now Available for Prada Regulars
Posted on October 19, 2005 | No CommentsThe Elements of Style gets an illustrated edition, baffling high school students and English majors everywhere who were denied the purty colors when they went to school. Hard-hearted writing instructors,... -
A Short List of Words That Inexplicably Turn Me On
Posted on October 19, 2005 | No CommentsFrom today’s edition of TMI Linguistics: librarian sizzle crackle Molly (and yet, strangely enough, I’ve never dated a Molly; likely because I’m terrified that the frequent use of this word... -
Primates Prove More Successful at Witty Cocktail Banter Than Humans, Who Are Too Busy Discussing Last Week’s Episode of “Lost”
Posted on August 25, 2005 | 1 CommentNew Scientist: “The data analysis showed strong relationships between vocal repertoire size and group size, as well as between repertoire size and the amount of time spent grooming, says McComb:... -
I Always Fancied the Colon Because It Reminded Me of Something
Posted on August 23, 2005 | 2 CommentsIt’s National Puncutation Day, and there’s plenty of background information on those outgoing punctuation signs you’ve learned love over the years. -
In Defense of Conversational Adverbs
Posted on January 15, 2005 | 2 CommentsApparently, some folks are taking offense to using “actually” in conversation. Actually, there’s something very nice about using adverbs in regular conversation. Realistically, it beats the tongue-tied swagger or the... -
Palabra About Paizogony, Baby
Posted on November 18, 2004 | No CommentsGymnosophic grounds for gyniolatry. Solo, saccadic jerks before saltire, abbreviated waldflute for Waldgrave Wiggins, committing randy wales, always wanchancy before his own private obeliscolychny, if you catch my drift. Wiggins,... -
Take That, Birnbaum!
Posted on November 2, 2004 | No CommentsToday’s Word of the Day is “jejune.” jejune \juh-JOON\, adjective: 1. Lacking in nutritive value. 2. Displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity; childish. 3. Lacking interest or significance; dull;... -
As I Drank My Morning Coffee
Posted on September 29, 2004 | 3 CommentsThe History of Punctuation (via Jeff) The American Bar Association has published its first work of fiction and folks in Miami are trying to find out the real-life models for... -
Why I Am Avoiding DBC Pierre
Posted on January 27, 2004 | 3 CommentsNot one motherfucker in the States says “fucken.” What was the point in spelling it this way? If we are to look at this from a phonetical standpoint, it comes... -
The Case Against First Person Plural
Posted on January 15, 2004 | 8 CommentsI’ve been very annoyed by the rise of first person plural. The use of “we” is an unfortunate component of McSweeney’s house style that shows no signs of waning. Several... -
Their Threat Fatigue and We Need To Do My Things On Your Alert
Posted on December 22, 2003 | No CommentsWhat Tom Ridge Said: “I don’t think we’ve got to worry about threat fatigue. We need to be on the alert and America needs to know that those who need... -
The Reluctant Tries to Remain Impartial Too, But…
Posted on December 16, 2003 | No CommentsThe BBC has banned its journalists from writing newspaper and magazine columns pertaining to current affairs. The m.o.? “Impartiality.” The ban extends to both staff and freelancers. There is at... -
Well, Fuck Me
Posted on December 9, 2003 | No CommentsThe New York Times: “John Kerry used profane language to assess President Bush’s Iraq policy, and Bush’s chief of staff said Sunday the Democratic presidential candidate was out of line.”...