An interesting book, but perhaps not a wholly successful one. McWhorter argues convincingly that Americans have lost their taste for formal speech and that rhetoric in the United States is a lost art. He also includes interesting sections on the difference between oral and written cultures and modes of communication. He notes, correctly, that almost nobody makes speeches to convince anyone that doesn't agree with them anymore: most public speeches are now given to crowds that already agree with the speaker. He argues that the gradual simplification of American English and its increasingly informal tone makes it difficult for us to consider long, complex arguments. All these things -- along with the author's clean, polished writing style and his obvious love for the English language -- makes "Doing Our Own Thing" very much worth reading. As for the rest of it, well.

The problem here is, I think, two-fold. First, McWhorter seems to sense the limits of his own arguments. While the examples of notable rhetoric presented here are impressively complex and finely wrought, I found myself glad that I never had to put up with that sort of verbiage for two hours at a stretch. McWhorter admits that listening to mid-grade nineteenth century oratory would also bore him to tears. McWhorter may be right about the way that English has changed over the generations, but I'm not really convinced that those changes are really much of a tragedy. The other issue here is that McWhorter's own tastes -- and perhaps his own personality -- seems to get in the way of his own arguments. He's a guy who loves musicals, opera, and old jazz standards, so I can understand why he doesn't think much of, say, The Stooges' "Fun House." But I'm not sure he quite understands that album's appeal, anyway. Not that he's necessarily a snob: he admits to liking all sorts of popular songs, even those from genres he considers lamentably unpolished. As another reviewer pointed out, this makes him seem a bit conflicted about his own arguments, an issue that pops up regularly throughout the book. McWhorter seems to bemoan the loss of an era without necessarily approving of the social and political circumstances that defined it. The problem is, of course, that it's tough to separate an era's aesthetic preferences from its politics: as he himself points, out, the grand style of pre-nineteen sixties speech effectively shut immigrants, black people, and the unschooled out of American discourse almost entirely. Both the author's alarm and his nostalgia are, I suppose, understandable enough, but the way he deals with them here is far from consistent. English may well have lost something when high rhetoric and self-consciously writterly styles went out of fashion, but English speakers -- in my opinion -- still care about how they express themselves, and the new paradigm has also given us a lot to work with.

Despite its flaws, I'm glad that McWhorter wrote "Doing Our Own Thing". The points he makes about how we judge, teach, learn, and appreciate English nowadays are often solid. But in many ways, this comes off as the work of a young, very knowledgable writer whose opinions and preferences are deeply held but difficult to incorporate into the arguments that he seems to want to make here. This one certainly has its flaws, but it's still worth your time. ( )

Even though I often disagreed with some of McWhorter's opinions, this was a fascinating and thought-provoking read the whole way through. His discussions are very fluid and familiar (even though he bemoans the degradation of a formal, "written" style), which made me desperately wish that I could sit down with him face-to-face and ask him to clarify and debate his very strong, sometimes extreme, and rather conservative statements. Regardless, this book drew attention to aspects of language (more specifically regarding American culture) that I've never considered before, and has now enticed me to form my own opinions of language's growth, conditions of decline, and the societal implications brought about in Whorf's Hypothesis of language reflecting culture (and vice versa) (even though Steven Pinker has influenced me in examining the holes of this theory). Reading McWhorter often reminded me of an academician's Chuck Klosterman. You should read this one!! ( )

I read this book after reading The Power of Babel, (which I think is axcellent), expecting a similar argument enlivened by careful observation and reasoning. What a disappointment! The thesis here is the decline of the west as shown in written language, popular music, and a host of other "trends". Besides showing his personal tastes, McWhorter claims to know the reason for this general decline: the 60s!
No careful weighting of evidence, no room for opposing views this book feels like a rant against the people that dared to challenge the given truth and therefore, in additin to be expelled from Eden, they took all of us with them.
McWhorter is a fine writer and some of his observations are worth pondering. But as a logical argument this book is a mess... ( )

This is a fun read. McWhorter's digressions on pop culture and literature are great. That said, the book as a whole doesn't hold together very well. The central argument is too simple and some of the examples given are unconvincing.

What's more, McWhorter is too honestly conflicted about his thesis to really drive the point home. Despite the abrasive title, he loves "low" culture for what it is and he studies it with the impartiality of a linguist. A more narrow-minded author might have written a more satisfying polemic. ( )

An extended rumination on the loss of formality in American English, Doing Our Own Thing is enjoyable and thought-provoking, if a bit repetitive. McWhorter's own voice is singular; I liked it, but his asides and wordplay may not be for everyone. ( )