Pretty entertaining.

Bryson here gives us a tour of English in the poppest of pop linguistics. There’s a lot here I hadn’t seen before and was quirky to learn, but his repetition of a few linguistic urban myths makes me have to question all of it. But it appears to actually be rather well researched, there’s a lot of good stuff here, so I’m probably better off for having read it.

I’m not really a Bryson fan. I’ve read some other books of his and they were kinda meh. This one was the best so far, and the above worries aside, I enjoyed myself reading it. It was the first book I picked up after the sun finally started shining this year, and it would make an excellent vacation book. I’m not sure how much I trust all of the information, but it’s non fiction presented in a very entertaining way. It’s really hard to find even mediocre non-fiction, so I’ll take it where I can get it, ignore any flaws, and feel smug with myself.

Anyway, I’d recommend it.