Erard, Michael

PERSONAL:

Born in San Antonio, TX; married. Education: Williams College, B.A.; University of Texas, M.A., 1996, Ph.D., 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Austin, TX. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer and journalist. Worked as an academic and teacher in the 1990s. Texas Observer, contributing writer, beginning 1998.

WRITINGS:

Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean, Pantheon Books (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to the New York Times, Wired, New Republic, Atlantic Monthly, Slate, Foreign Policy, New Scientist, Lingua Franca, Legal Affairs, Texas Observer, and other publications.

SIDELIGHTS:

Michael Erard is a Texas journalist who, as he notes on his Web site, "writes mainly about language at the intersection of technology, policy, law, and science." Though he was born in San Antonio, Texas, Erard was raised in Colorado. His journalism career started early, with a stint on a local weekly newspaper as a fourteen-year-old. The fascination with words and writing never left him. He earned a master's degree in linguistics and a doctorate in English, and he worked for a time as an educator and instructor. However, he finally made the switch to writing full time. A contributor to numerous national periodicals, including the New York Times, Atlantic Monthly, and the online journal Slate, Erard is also the author of the 2007 book Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean. The work is a "well-researched, in-depth study of ‘speech disruption’ analysis," according to Library Journal contributor Rebecca Bolen Manalac. Inspired by the intense media coverage of the verbal blunders of President George W. Bush (Erard devotes an entire chapter to the president's gaffes), the book begins with a profile of the life of Reverend William Archibald Spooner, after whom the spoonerism was named. Among other notables whom Erard records in his book are former presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, as well as presidential hopefuls, including Senator John Kerry. He also looks at the work of the neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, who, in his Psychopathology of Everyday Life declared that such speech mistakes were actually betrayals of psychological states. Another Austrian, philologist Rudolf Meringer, also figures in Erard's research. Meringer's 1889 study, Misspeaking and Misreading, cataloged almost 9,000 verbal slips. Erard contends in his study that it was not until the advent of recorded speech, with radio and later with television, that such blunders, especially emitted from the mouths of politicians, were placed under detailed and excruciating scrutiny. Until then, slips of the tongue were allowed and expected, even from public officials. After all, as Erard points out, the average human makes one such blunder in every ten words. Interruptions of speech, such as "um," occur frequently as well. Erard additionally traveled around the country and as far as China interviewing those who make studies of verbal blunders. Manalac termed Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean "entertaining and detailed."

Erard's book was greeted with widespread critical acclaim. Writing in the Texas Observer, Steven G. Kellman found it a "detailed and diverting survey of malapropisms, spoonerisms, stutters, solecisms, and other gaffes that clutter our speech." Kellman further called Erard's book "a study and celebration of how speech is botched." Writing in the Charleston Post & Courier, Ann Mitchell noted that the work is a "nifty little book … [that] looks at the types of language gaffes we all make—and why we laugh … when others make them." Further praise came from Seattle Times contributor David B. Williams, who observed, "By focusing on what many of us overlook (or underhear?), Erard has further revealed the complexity and beauty of language." Less positive in his assessment was New York Observer reviewer Jesse Wegman, who found the book an "engaging but meandering analysis of the mistakes we make when we speak." However, a Publishers Weekly reviewer found more to like, noting that Erard's "work challenges the reader to think about his or her own speech in an entirely new way," while Christine Kenneally, writing in the New York Times Book Review, found it an "enjoyable tour of linguistic mishaps." A Kirkus Reviews critic joined in the spirit of Erard's book with a laudatory and humorous conclusion: "A lascinating fook at yet another revealing instance of human imperfection."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Internet Bookwatch, December, 2007, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2007, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.

Library Journal, August 1, 2007, Rebecca Bolen Manalac, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean, p. 87.

New Yorker, September 3, 2007, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean, p. 133.

New York Times Book Review, August 19, 2007, Christine Kenneally, "Thinking Out Loud," p. 5.

O, the Oprah Magazine, August 2007, Whitney Fuller, "Talk Therapy," p. 46.

Publishers Weekly, May 28, 2007, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean, p. 49.

ONLINE

Battalion,http://www.thebatt.com/ (October 4, 2007), Christina Ashie, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.

Charleston Post & Courier Online,http://www.charleston.net/ (October 14, 2007), Ann Mitchell, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.

Daily News Record Online,http://www.dnronline.com/ (October 4, 2007), Lucy Bednar, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.

Deseret Morning News Online,http://www.deseretnews.com/ (August 19, 2007), Dennis Lythgoe, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.

Michael Erard Home Page,http://www.michaelerard.com (February 24, 2008).

Morning News Online,http://www.themorningnews.org/ (March 15, 2006), Michael Erard, "Foolish Chances with Words."

New York Observer Online,http://www.observer.com/ (August 14, 2007), Jesse Wegman, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.

PopMatters,http://www.popmatters.com/ (February 24, 2008), Karen Zarker, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.

Savannah Morning News Online,http://www.savannahnow.com/ (August 19, 2007), Theo Lippman, Jr., review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.

Seattle Times Online,http://www.seattletimes.nwsource.com/ (February 24, 2008), David B. Williams, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.

Texas Observer Online,http://www.texasobserver.org/ (June 29, 2007), Steven G. Kellman, review of Um—Slips, Stumbles, and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean.

Um the Book Web site,http://www.umthebook.com (February 24, 2008).