Slip of the Tongue: Talking About Language

Slip of the Tongue explores a wide range of topics in linguistics through reflecting on the author’s life and surroundings. Author Katie Haegele is a respected memoirist who makes sense of the world around her by looking at the ways we use language: to communicate, to make art, and simply to survive. She takes us through her life by describing her family’s rich linguistic history and her own coming of age as a feminist and an artist, and introduces us to her hometown of Philadelphia, a city lively with graffiti, poetry, and the remnants of its colonial heritage. She connects history to the present with research, interviews, and musings on digital technology and the contemporary state of the English language. If language is what makes us human, Slip of the Tongue, a book as brainy as it is heart-warming, is a celebration of that humanity in all its complicated beauty. More than a clever language book, Haegele is personal and conversational—able to explore her subjects with both intellectual vigor and a lot of heart. A memoir that takes a niche subject outside of academia.