'… for those who failed to brush up their grammar, hope is at hand from a new book that celebrates slang and poor punctuation.' The Independent
'… not all change is good. Burridge is quick to criticise 'evil weed' words, such as dishonest euphemisms that try to sound neutral when really they are negative, such as friendly fire and downsize.' BBC News Magazine
'… the fact that a book can stimulate such debate is proof positive that the English language is a rude and robust health. We should all celebrate that.' Daily Express
He writes with panache...it is excellent (The Tablet )
fascinating study (Writing Magazine )
Delightful yet discombobulating (The Wall Street Journal )
what could be nicer to read than a book about how nice reading is? (Steven Poole, The Guardian )
lively volume...prepare to be engrossed. (Times Higher Education Supplement )
A vigorous and friendly exhortation to get back into the kind of reading that made you a reader in the first place. (Library Journal )
This classic work explores the vast differences between oral and literate cultures and offers a brilliantly lucid account of the intellectual, literary and social effects of writing, print and electronic technology.
