WHAT'S YOUR NAME?

by Louis Adam ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 2, 1942

Another panel in the comprehensive study Louis Adamic is making of the foreign born and first generation European American. This falls into two main sections -- the first, What's Your Name? Is an exhaustive research job of philological and ethnological importance, into the foreign name problem in the United States. He brings out through anecdote and human interest material the effect names have had on people in business, in society, in professional life; he makes one blush in realizing the almost universal intolerance towards the harsh, difficult Slavic names, the mouth-filling Central European names. He defends the change of names that are hopeless for the English tongue, but urges more careful consideration of the hows and whats of such changes -- pronunciation, spelling, organic significance. Two long short stories begin and end this section. Both worth reading for themselves -- The Importance of Being and Alias Mr. Nichols. The last third of the book deals largely with developments and of his previous book in this post Pearl Harbor period -- articles, editorials, letters and so forth on his basic idea in Two-Way Passage.

Pub Date: Sept. 2, 1942

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1942

Categories: NONFICTION