The literary and cultural blog So Very Very published a delightful review of The Story of Ain’t, one of my … More
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Skinner on Redskin
I wrote an article about the history of the term redskin for Lexicon Valley, the language blog on Slate. (Lexicon … More
London Times calls The Story of Ain’t “implausibly entertaining”
“A book about a dictionary may sound a dry read. I’ve found one that’s implausibly entertaining. It’s a recent American … More
The Story of Ain’t in the Christian Science Monitor
Ruth Walker compares The Story of Ain’t to The Professor and the Madman, and quotes PJ O’Rourke’s words of praise … More
What Mark Liberman Said on Language Log
“I’m happy to have this occasion to post an enthusiastic recommendation: You should immediately run out (virtually or physically) and … More
On the Role of Dictionaries in NYT
When it happens I feel as if I have stepped into a Far Side cartoon. I am a magazine editor, … More
New York Times Editors’ Choice
The Times called The Story of Ain’t “an engrossing account of the continuing ruckus over Webster’s Third New International Dictionary.”
Visiting Chestertown, Maryland
Last week I drove to historic Chestertown to talk about The Story of Ain’t with a nonfiction reading group at … More
The Story of Ain’t wins an award
The Story of Ain’t: America, Its Language, and the Most Controversial Dictionary has won a PROSE award, which is an … More
Examiner.com on The Story of Ain’t
“Skinner’s book is a cautionary tale about an intellectual witch-burning.” Read the whole review here.