Product Description

An entertaining, anecdotal look at the origins of language and ideas in the USA. Bryson explains why two bicycle repairmen from Ohio succeeded in mastering manned flight, why the assassination of President Garfield led to the invention of air conditioning, and many other improbable but true facts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6215 in Books
• Published on: 1998-04-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 624 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Bill Bryson's "Informal History of the English Language in the United States" is, in a word, fascinating. After reading this tour de force, it's clear that a nation's language speaks volumes about its true character: you are what you speak. Bryson traces America's history through the language of the time, then goes on to discuss words culled from everyday activities: immigration, eating, shopping, advertising, going to the movies, and others.

Made in America will supply you with interesting facts and cocktail chatter for a year or more. Did you know, for example, that Teddy Roosevelt's "speak softly and carry a big stick" credo has its roots in a West African proverb? Or that actor Walter Matthau's given name is Walter Mattaschanskayasky? Or that the supposedly frigid Puritans--who called themselves "Saints," by the way--had something called a pre-contract, which was a license for premarital sex? Made in America is an excellent discussion of American English, but what makes the book such a treasure is that it offers much, much more.

Review
Ex-patriate journalist Bryson (Neither Here Nor There, 1992, etc.) skims the history and present condition of American English. The text is an entertaining compendium of possible and less possible word origins. Does "okay" come from Martin Van Buren's nickname, Old Kinderhook? Or from the fact that Andrew Jackson was reported to write "oll korrect"? Or is it from the Greek ollakalla (all good)? Bryson offers a cogent discussion of sexism in the language, and there's a lot of orthography, etymology, and toponymy. But this isn't just a book about language. It's also a bestiary of American pop culture, many of whose stereotypes Bryson debunks (a back-formation from Buncombe County, N.C., of course): Ellis Island, in its original splendor, wasn't half bad; the Puritans enjoyed a good time just like the rest of us; and Ray Kroc hadn't the inventiveness of the Brothers MacDonald, after all. Bryson tells us a lot we surely never thought about. There's the cost of sending a letter by Postal Express and the reason for the bump on the fuselage of the Boeing 747. "Debugging" of computers began, we are told, on the day 50 years ago when a moth entered a Navy computer. There are, however, some facts that aren't facts. Bryson places the Polish-born British writer Joseph Conrad among the group of Americans whose names were changed from awkward foreignness. And, surprisingly for a lexicographer, he indulges in the popular confusion of the 18th-century "long s" and the modern "f." This offering won't replace the popular works by Flexner, much less the majestic Mencken, but the style is engaging and the narrative diverting. An index is appended, but there is no useful list of words and phrases. If, as the old saw has it, England and America are two countries divided by a common language, here's some disarming help sent by a Yank from the other side of the pond. (Kirkus Reviews)

Synopsis
An entertaining, anecdotal look at the origins of language and ideas in the USA. Bryson explains why two bicycle repairmen from Ohio succeeded in mastering manned flight, why the assassination of President Garfield led to the invention of air conditioning, and many other improbable but true facts.

Customer Reviews

Informative and Entertaining
With this book, Bill Bryson does for language what he did for science in A SHort History Of Everything. Here you not only get the history and evolution of the Englisg language in North AMerica, but alongside that a revealing and entertaining history of American cultural, social, economic and political development. It is constructed in thematic chapters that illuminate America and its myriad immigrant communities. Every pages throws up some wonderful or amusing fact and I guarantee you will know and understand a whole lot more about the USA at the end of this book than when you started. A plesure and treasure trove from beginning to end.

One of his best
Probably one of my favourite Bryson books. Apart from the humour this book provides an excellent history of American culture and the derivation of many of the US phrases and sayings that we take for granted.

Bryson comes out a winner
The United States of America is the most powerful nation on earth - some would argue too powerful. But it hasn't always been this way.

Bill Bryson is at his best when presenting quirky historical facts that shatter common misconceptions about America. Starting from its "discovery" and tracing through the centuries, we see how cultural events, scientific breakthroughs, political and societal change have shaped the most powerful nation on earth.

This is, however, a book about language, and Bryson neatly marries everything with the linguistic development which followed. We all know that the Americans pronounce certain things differently to us Brits, and also have words that we don't. Bryson sheds light on a vast range of nuances between British and American English with an eloquent style that makes this book hard to put down.

What makes Bryson such a great writer is his accessibility. There are many fascinating anecdotes to choose from: the invention of the G-String, the humble origins of McDonalds, the farcical law of Prohibition. Presenting a chronological history of America sounds unbearably mind numbing, yet he pulls it off with panache. You only need to looks at the bibliography at the back to see his vast range of research, yet there is no hint of encyclopaedic tedium here.

Made in America is a welcome addition to the collection of anyone who shares Bryson's curious nature and even the biggest know - all is guaranteed to learn something new. Bryson triumphs here - let's hope that he continues to do so for many years to come.