The State of the Language

An exceptional gathering of British & American observations on English as the sensitive register of our ideas, feelings, and manners at the beginning of the 1980s. 3rd printing. 609pp. Published in Association with the English-Speaking Union, San Francisco Branch. Bright, clean & tight copy, unread, in FINE condition. "What are we doing with words today? In original short essays and poems, many of the gifted writers of our day--novelists, linguists, literary critics, philosophers, politicians, people in law, business, and the arts--offer informed and lively responses to this question. They discuss topics as different as liturgical English and the language of popular music; the language of legal interpretation and the play-talk of children; the use of dialects; the language of philosophy, women, and computers; and the state of letter writing. For the authors in this book, English is not only crucial to their work, but also a sensitive record of the way we think and feel about--indeed create--our world. Touching on much of contemporary life--art, religion, sex, science, politics, education, business--the essayists together embrace what is vital and distinctive in our language as we enter the 1980s." [jacket copy] Among the 64 writers are Amis, Carter, Donoghue, Fisher, Johnson, Lodge, Miles, Ostriker, Reed, Simon, Wilmers, White, dozens more. Pristine hardcover w/brilliant corners & crisp edges, a square & tight binding (slightly cocked spine), unmarked & quite presentable, wrapped in an intact NF jacket w/slight spine fading.…