A useful resource for the classroom and anyone interested in the history of American English.
Stavans brings together poets and presidents, rappers and novelists to show how language has shaped, and been shaped by, American culture.
Language has always demonstrated the power to both unite and divide, sometimes simultaneously. It is also a field of remarkable richness, as this collection of essays, poems, speeches, and song lyrics shows. Stavans, a Mexican American author and academic, presents a broad spectrum of material, from the Pilgrims to the age of Twitter, tracking the evolution of American English. For a significant period of time, particularly in the early days of the republic, a common language was seen as necessary to hold a country of immigrants together. Despite numerous attempts to standardize the language, the strength of American English has always been its capacity to absorb new words and phrases. One major debate involved the role of patois in Black communities, which drew on slavery-era roots: Was it a way to assert independence or a reinforcement of negative stereotypes? This argument would continue for decades, although James Baldwin’s 1979 essay, “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Tell Me What Is?” (included here) was a powerful statement for the legitimacy of Black language. A similar theme emerged from Spanish-background writers: How can unity and diversity be balanced within a framework of language? Stavans’ piece on Spanglish points to one path forward. While he acknowledges that America is now in “a time of passionate philological belligerence,” as the particulars of language seem to be driving people apart more than bringing them together, Stavans might have offered more material about the impact of social media’s acronyms and contractions on language development. Nevertheless, the book provides a sweeping historical narrative and solid context for further discussion. Among the many notable contributions are pieces from Sojourner Truth, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Thomas Wolfe, Zora Neale Hurston, William Faulkner, Richard Rodriguez, Toni Morrison, Joy Harjo, John McWhorter, and Kendrick Lamar.
A useful resource for the classroom and anyone interested in the history of American English.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-63206-265-9
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Restless Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.
A coffee-table book celebrates Michelle Obama’s sense of fashion.
Illustrated with hundreds of full-color photographs, Obama’s chatty latest book begins with some school portraits from the author’s childhood in Chicago and fond memories of back-to-school shopping at Sears, then jumps into the intricacies of clothing oneself as the spouse of a presidential candidate and as the first lady. “People looked forward to the outfits, and once I got their attention, they listened to what I had to say. This is the soft power of fashion,” she says. Obama is grateful and frank about all the help she got along the way, and the volume includes a long section written by her primary wardrobe stylist, Koop—28 years old when she first took the job—and shorter sections by makeup artists and several hair stylists, who worked with wigs and hair extensions as Obama transitioned back to her natural hair, and grew out her bangs, at the end of her husband’s second term. Many of the designers of the author’s gowns, notably Jason Wu, who designed several of her more striking outfits, also contribute appreciative memories. Besides candid and more formal photographs, the volume features many sketches of her gowns by their designers, closeups on details of those gowns, and magazine covers from Better Homes & Gardens to Vogue. The author writes that as a Black woman, “I was under a particularly white-hot glare, constantly appraised for whether my outfits were ‘acceptable’ and ‘appropriate,’ the color of my skin somehow inviting even more judgment than the color of my dresses.” Overall, though, this is generally a canny, upbeat volume, with little in the way of surprising revelations.
Not so deep, but a delightful tip of the hat to the pleasures—and power—of glamour.Pub Date: Nov. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780593800706
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 7, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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