ITINERARY
THISPAGE, CASTLE: BOBD’AMICO/ABC.OPPOSITEPAGE, KIAWAH ISLAND: PATRICKO’BRIEN
22
APRIL 15, 2012
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
{ BOOKS }
Tongue
Ties
Author
ELIZABETHLITTLE
exploreshowour common language
hasdividedus from thecultureandheritageof thepast.
{
}
“I
woulddescribemyselfasawell-read
but slightly profane travel guide,”
admitsauthorElizabethLittle,who
provestobeengagingcompanythroughout
her secondbook,
Tripof theTongue: Cross-
Country Travels in Search of America’s
Languages
(BloomsburyUSA, $25). A self-
professed language fanatic, Little covered
25,000milesand46statesovertwoyearsin
herquesttounderstandwhy,timeandagain,
Englishhasprevailedover thehundredsof
other languagesthatatonepointoranother
flourishedwithinAmerica’sborders.
Thatwasn’tthejourneyLittleenvisioned
whenshepitched thebook toherpublisher.
She figured she’d repeat the successful
formula of her critically acclaimeddebut,
2007’s
Biting theWax Tadpole
, and “col-
lect and curate” interesting things about
language in theUnitedStates. “I thought I
wasgoing tofindall thesevibrant language
communitiesandtalkaboutAmericanmul-
ticulturalismandhow ithasbeensustained
through theyears,”she tells
AmericanWay
.
“WhatIfoundwasverydierent.Itbecamea
storyofhowthoselanguagesarelostinstead
ofhowcool it isthey’restillaround.”
Amongthe11destinationsfeaturedinthe
newbook,Arizona’sNavajoNation—where
federalprogramsinthe1800sstrippedNava-
josof theirculture, languageandeconomic
livelihood— isespeciallysomber.Later,Lit-
tledeftlycapturestheprideofthecrowdata
BasquefestivalinElko,Nev.,oneinaseriesof
annualfetesthatserveasextendedfamilyre-
unionsandhelppreservetheBasqueculture
inNorthAmerica. But the authorhitsher
narrative stridedescribingabreathtaking
drivethroughWashingtonstate,whenthose
profaneelementsofher color commentary
emergetogreatcomediceect.
Little’s favorite souvenir fromher trip
was theword
lagniappe
, a common term
inLouisiana for “a little something extra
thrown in free.” Her talent for dovetail-
ing pop-culture touchpoints (such as the
Twilight
series) with academic discourse
(“Whypreservedying languages?”) serves
as literary lagniappe, leaving readers not
onlyinformedbutgreatlyentertainedwhen
theypartwayswithLittleat theendofher
insightful journey.
WORKOFFICTION
{
¨. © ªª }
IfRichardCastle
were real, hemightbe the
perfectman:aprolificwriterofbest-sellingmurder
mysteries,dashing,wittyandruggedlyhandsome.
Sadly, Castle isonlymake-believe, thebrainchild
ofwriter/producerAndrewM. Marlowe, brought
to lifebyactorNathanFilliononABC’s hit series
Castle
. But being a figment of our imagination
hasn’tkeptCastle frompublishingaseriesof real-
lifechart-topping thrillers— including
HeatRises
(Hyperion,$10),out thismonth inpaperback—or
a trioof e-books— the first ofwhich,
ABrewing
Storm
, hits onlineoutlets nextmonth. Nor did it
keep
AmericanWay
from talkingshopwithhim.
AMERICANWAY
:
You’vesaid that
your firstnovel
was inspiredby the
daytimesoapsyour
motherwatched
duringyouryouth.
RICHARDCASTLE:
Whenyou’re7years
old, you’rekind
of new to thenotion
of the long-lost
evil twin, so soap
operasbecome this
incredibleplayground
of discovery. For
manyyears, Iwas
convinced that I had
anevil twin. Then
I came tobelieve that
Iwas someone
else’s
evil twin.
AW
:
You’vebeen
criticalofyourearly
work.Howdoyou
feel aboutyour
recentnovels?
RC:
I feel thatmy
recent novels arevery
lucrative, so I’m
rather fondof them.
AW
:
Your
Heat
mysteriesseem
tobebasedon
someoneyou love.
Maybesomeone
namedDetective
KateBeckett?
RC:
I thinkyou
maybe jumping to
conclusions there.
I didn’t sayyouwere
wrong; just jumping
to conclusions.
AW
:
Howdoyou
respond to rumors
thatyourwork
isghostwritten?
RC:
Howwould
aghost even
writeanovel? Its
handswouldgo
right through
thekeyboard.
