© Columbia University Press
Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language
April, 2007
Cloth, 320 pages, 18 illus.
ISBN: 978-0-231-13794-2
$24.95
/ £16.95
"The book percolates with creative energy and will please anyone intrigued by how our richly variegated language came to be." — Publishers Weekly
"Nonspecialists will join scholars in praising this remarkable linguistic investigation." — Bryce Chrstensen, Booklist
"An important and valuable source for anyone who loves the English language, and language in general." — Gale Zoe Garnett, Toronto Globe & Mail
"Written with real authority, enthusiasm, and love for our unruly and exquisite language." — Michael Dirda, The Washington Post
"A wonderful book. It's not hard to find well-informed books about the history of the English language, and it's not hard to find good critical accounts of English literature, but to have the two intertwined in one book is remarkable." — Language Hat
"Interesting and informative." — Tom Oleson, Winnipeg Free Press
"A personal, selective and impassioned journey through the history of English." — Times Higher Education Supplement
"Lerer not only navigates the shifting currents and boiling rapids of English, but also explores its secret coves." — Rob Kyff, Advocate
"[An] elegant book." — Karenn Krangle, Vancouver Sun
"A fresh look at the history of the English language." — Cynthia Lee Katona, Magill Book Reviews
"Inventing English is an invigorating read for the mind and the mouth." — Bloomsbury Review
"Fun and illuminating." — Carol White, The Main Artery
"This absorbing book provides sufficient information about linguistics and early English language and literature for clarification... Essential." — Choice
"Erudite and accessible. [Lerer] brings both love and rigour to his subject." — Gale Zoë Garnett, Globe & Mail
"An unusual linguistic and literary feast." — Anne Curzan, Michigan Quarterly Review
"Lerer pays particular attention to some of the more important passages in the central texts of English literary history, but he is equally at home when analyzing more immediately popular works and always capable of discovering deep and general interest in the most startlingly simple places." — Christopher Cannon, Cambridge University
"This is an excellent introduction to the history of our language for readers without knowledge of linguistics or even of early English language and literature itself. Lerer uses his engaging format to present and elucidate the considerable number of issues and concepts involving the study of usage, which have become part of the matter of the history of English." — John Hollander, Yale University