Made in America

Title	Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States
Author	Bill Bryson
Call Number	PE2809 .B79 2001
Location	2nd Floor Humanities
Rating	Highly Recommended
Book Review	This is a fascinating examination of the ways English has shifted and grown since coming to the United States, from its adoption and twisting of Native American words before the Pilgrims arrived, to the influence of various waves of immigrants, to the effects of advertising, sports, film, food, war, and more on the language.  The only chapters that fell a bit short were toward the end, where the book showed its age (it was written in 1994, and thus had views of the role of computers in society and the general modern state of the language that are no longer accurate).  Still, the majority of this book is a very interesting read for linguists and people interested in English, though it is written in a manner to be accessible to those without much knowledge in those fields.
Submitted By	Kristin Laughtin-Dunker
Department or Major	Leatherby Libraries
Status	Staff
Chapman Email	laughtin@chapman.edu