The Kingdom of Speech

July 11, 2016
Wolfe (Back to Blood), who began his career as a journalist, delivers his first nonfiction book in 16 years. In lively, irreverent, and witty prose, he argues that speech, not evolution, sets humans apart from animals and is responsible for all of humankind’s complex achievements. Speech, Wolfe explains, was the “first artifact,” the first instance where people took elements from nature—sounds—and turned them into something completely constructed. Wolfe evaluates the theories of the early evolutionists, such as Charles Darwin; self-taught British naturalist Alfred Wallace; and present-day linguists, psychologists, and anthropologists who, despite 150 years of effort, still struggle to understand how language evolved. Zeroing in on two scientific rivalries that pit an outsider against the establishment, Wolfe slyly skewers Darwin for grabbing all the glory from Wallace for the theory of evolution, and Noam Chomsky for ignoring, yet later tacitly acknowledging, fellow linguist Daniel Everett, who disagreed with Chomsky’s theory that language, in all its complexity, is hardwired in humans. Everett spent 30 years studying the Pirahãs, an isolated tribe in the Amazon basin, whose language revealed no conception of past or future, and no comprehension of numbers. Wolfe is at his best when portraying the lives of the scientists and their respective eras, and his vibrant study manages to be clever, funny, serious, satirical, and instructive. Agent: Lynn Nesbit, Janklow & Nesbit.

From evolution to penicillin to the big bang theory, the past 175 years have seen science crack some of nature's biggest mysteries. But the origin of human language remains a puzzle, for the most part. Narrator Robert Petkoff's bright and energetic delivery reflects the author's well-known penetrating intelligence and curiosity, here matched with a dose of exasperation as he traces the history of disproven theories on language development and acquisition. Tom Wolfe's most caustic humor is squarely aimed at "science" when he sees it collapsing under the weight of personalities such as Charles Darwin and Noam Chomsky. Petkoff switches from a tone of satire to wonder at what a singular species we humans are--while having little idea how we got that way. B.P. � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

December 5, 2016
Wolfe stands as one of the towering literary figures of our era, who is known for his distinct style of writing. For a voice actor, conveying Wolfe’s blend of erudite intensity and sardonic wit presents quite a challenge, but Petkoff rises to the occasion. Wolfe’s thesis in this book centers on his belief that the theories of both Charles Darwin and Noam Chomsky fail to account for how humans developed language. Petkoff manages to channel the bite of Wolfe’s narrative at every turn, as he declares winners and losers of this grand debate over how humans developed language. Admittedly, nonfiction social criticism in this format probably does not have a wide appeal, but Petkoff helps up the entertainment value for this type of project. A Little, Brown hardcover.