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Linguist and author David Crystal was recently interviewed on NPR's Talk of the Nation, discussing the paperback release of Walking English: A Journey in Search of Language: "Whether near his home in Wales or abroad, linguist David Crystal always travels with an insatiable curiosity about the English language. For his book, Walking English, he hit the road in search of new linguistic experiences. Crystal is fascinated by distinctive accents and towns with unusual names. He takes particular interest in intriguing turns of phrase old and new, whether they're rooted deep in Anglo-Saxon origins or fresh off a TV ad."

David Crystal's By Hook or By Crook: A Journey in Search of English has received a starred review in Booklist: "Crystal has been dubbed a latter-day Samuel Johnson, and with good reason, as evidenced by the long list of academic studies penned by the distinguished linguist, among them How Language Works. However, it is Professor Henry Higgins, popularized on stage and screen that he most often cites in this delightful book, which is part travelogue, part memoir, and part meditation on the intellectual and emotional underpinnings of language. What is most seductive about Crystal's narrative, though, is the fascinating glimpse it provides into the quicksilver mind of a man who is so knowledgeable and yet still so curious about our mercurial language."

The United Nations has proclaimed 2008 The International Year of Languages, "recognizing that genuine multilingualism promotes unity in diversity and international understanding." One of the world's foremost authorities on languages is David Crystal, author of Overlook's The Stories of English, How Language Works, and the forthcoming By Hook or By Crook: A Journey in Search of English. The new work is a departure for Crystal: an entertaining linguistic travelogue, and an attempt to capture the seductive, quirky, teasing, tantalizing nature of language itself. By Hook or By Crook will be published in May 2008.

Great notice for David Crystal's How Language Works in the Sunday St. Petersburg Times:

"Crystal's book is comprehensive, but nowhere near dull enough to be a textbook. It's a difficult thing he's doing here: trying to offer a lucid and entertaining study of how we communicate with one another. It's a story with no central character, but with lots of topics to cover and fecund with examples. The tone is conversational, and it gives us the feeling we're back in the classroom again, listening to a master lecturer.

Crystal isn't concerned with correcting our grammar or making us feel like language fools. He just wants us to think about how this works."

Two great notices for David Crystal's How Language Works: Paul Dickson in The New York Times writes: "He succeeds again and again with clarity, wit and enthusiasm." And Union-Tribune Book Editor Arthur Salm offers that How Language Works "is pretty much the reference book we all need in order to extract the most calories out of all the other language books we'll no doubt continue to consume."