Doing Our Own Thing

Oct 8, 2024 1:30 AM

Author:John McWhorter

Doing Our Own Thing

Once languages become written, they change. Only in writing does language develop the artfulness and richness that we associate with a Shakespeare, a Proust or a Whitman. Yet over the last forty years, the English-language has effectively gone into reverse - taking our lead from America and the legacy of the 1960s, our culture increasingly privileges the oral over the written, spurning the art of elaborated, 'written'-style language in favour of returning to the state of a spoken culture. Parallel developments have occurred in music.

In this controversial and thought-provoking book, John McWhorter argues that the 1960's rejection of cultural traits associated with the Establishment, as well as a democratic celebration of what anyone can do over what requires training or talent, has led to our culture being increasingly impoverished, both intellectually and artistically...

Reviews

'Fascinating... Generally persuasive and always entertainingly argued... An arresting thesis... McWhorter's...examples reflect a wide-ranging knowledge of popular culture, and he is full of odd, illuminating facts.'

—— Independent

'Every generation believes that language is in decline, but Doing Our Own Thing argues that this time the concern is real... John McWhorter's...analysis is insightful, richly documented, and yes, eloquently written.'

—— Steven Pinker

A propulsive read

—— The Times

Chatty, funny, hugely engaging ... an endearingly honest account of his life so far...

—— Heat

Witty with bursts of Smithy-style sincerity - it is distinctively Corden.

—— Independent

It'll make you lol but is also full of poignancy in classic Smithy Style

—— Company Magazine

Strong accounts of his highs and lows... [the book] lays bare the distorting lens of modern celebrity.

—— London Life

A vivid, sympathetic account... provides a definitive explanation of Welles's ultimate, lingering downfall

—— Financial Times

I am already looking forward to [the third volume] such is Callow's sympathetic absorption in the mass of material, which he handles with a light and ironic touch, that I found myself utterly hooked... As an actor himself Callow writes illuminatingly about Welles's performances

—— Mail on Sunday

Callow's enterprise is one of the rarest in publishing. It leaves the reader dry-mouthed with anticipation for his final, third volume

—— Alan Warner , Guardian

The only biog really worth it's salt this year...reliably entertaining, wise and sane

—— Catherine Shoard , Evening Standard

Welles’s packed schedule is rifled through with chatty elegance

—— Catherine Shoard , Sunday Telegraph

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