Author reading: "Um..." by Michael Erard September 18, 2007

Austin author Michael Erard will read from his book "Um. . .: Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean."

From the author's website:

"Um… is about, well, a lot of things, one of which is how and why our attention to some verbal blunders rises and falls. Why was the spoonerism named after Reverend Spooner (and not some other absent-minded person)? Where did the Freudian slip come from? Why do we prize umlessness in speaking, and how long has that been the case? And what about President Bush? The point of all this is, we prefer (and notice) in speakers what we prefer (and notice) in the selves we desire. One way to trace the blunders we listen for is to look at the cultural, technological, and historical currents that shape us."

http://www.michaelerard.com/um/

Official Website: http://www.bookpeople.com/calendar_of_events.php?view=detail&id=80