Synopsis "Talking Back, Talking Black: Truths About America's Lingua Franca (in English)"
ACCLAIMED, IN-DEMAND AUTHOR: John McWhorter has built a reputation among readers, booksellers, and librarians for addressing controversial topics and contemporary issues through the linguist's lens. He is a New York Times bestselling author, has guest blogged for Powell's, and has had two previous books on language selected for the Indie Next list. In addition to being a columnist for major print and online outlets, he hosts the Slate podcast Lexicon Valley and is regularly interviewed on NPR, CNN, and MSNBC. His TED talk ("Txtng is killing language. JK!!!") has over two million views. HARDCOVER SUCCESS: The publication of the original hardcover edition of Talking Back, Talking Black was met with considerable critical attention: in a feature-length review, the New Yorker praised McWhorter's "intelligent breeziness" and the book's "considerable charm," while the New York Times Book Review declared that McWhorter "ably and enthusiastically breaks down the mechanics." McWhorter has presented and discussed the book on C-SPAN's Book TV, WNYC's All Things Considered, numerous podcasts, and in the Talks at Google series. A BOOK OF THE MOMENT: Talking Back, Talking Black is McWhorter's first book dedicated entirely to Black English for a lay audience and offers an in-depth look into a subject he is often called upon to contextualize in light of breaking news, including the BLM movement and campus unrest. As a number of prominent authors examine the systematic injustices levied against black Americans to this day, McWhorter ably tackles the stigma against Black English. UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE: McWhorter's perspective on Black English is unique in how he considers American history closely but also places it in context by taking an international approach. Examining evolving dialects around the world, he argues that America, as an immigrant nation, is similar to countries such as Sweden, Germany, Norway, and others, where immigrants have transformed the country's primary language to create an empowering lingua franca of their own.
