Overview

Computers, now the writer's tool of choice, are still blamed by skeptics for a variety of ills, from speeding writing up to the point of recklessness, to complicating or trivializing the writing process, to destroying the English language itself. A Better Pencil puts our complex, still-evolving hate-love relationship with computers and the internet into perspective, describing how the digital revolution influences our reading and writing practices, and how the latest technologies differ from what came before. The book explores our use of computers as writing tools in light of the history of communication technology, a history of how we love, fear, and actually use our writing technologies--not just computers, but also typewriters, pencils, and clay tablets. Dennis Baron shows that virtually all writing implements--and even writing itself--were greeted at first with anxiety and outrage: the printing press disrupted the ""almost spiritual connection"" between the writer and the page; the typewriter was ""impersonal and noisy"" and would ""destroy the art of handwriting."" Both pencils and computers were created for tasks that had nothing to do with writing. Pencils, crafted by woodworkers for marking up their boards, were quickly repurposed by writers and artists. The computer crunched numbers, not words, until writers saw it as the next writing machine. Baron also explores the new genres that the computer has launched: email, the instant message, the web page, the blog, social-networking pages like MySpace and Facebook, and communally-generated texts like Wikipedia and the Urban Dictionary, not to mention YouTube.Here then is a fascinating history of our tangled dealings with a wide range of writing instruments, from ancient papyrus to the modern laptop. With dozens of illustrations and many colorful anecdotes, the book will enthrall anyone interested in language, literacy, or writing.

Full Product Details

9780195388442

Table of Contents

Reviews

""[A] splendid history... Baron's retelling of the history of techno-skepticism is edifying.""--City Journal ""Baron offers a breezy overview of the ways that technology is shaping reading and writing practices. This book will be valued in future as a well-contextualized survey of issues that surface among writers in the current online landscape. Today's reader will appreciate the conversational style and the reminders that many of the supposed consequences of the digital revolution were ever thus. Some may smile with recognition as they recall WordStar and the evolution of word processing applications."" --CHOICE ""His fast-paced, chatty, engaging history of reading and writing implicitly leads toward some sort of insight about the future.""--Frederick E. Allen, Technology and Culture

Highly enjoyable book...He writes with infectious curiosity and wit. Stephen Poole There is much that is worthwhile in 'A Better Pencil'. Times Higher Education A gleeful and provocative read. Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday

Baron engages with readers' experiences and personal encounters with new media used as tools for self-expression and general dialogue. He follows a personalized, humerous and at times eccentric course, discussing writing tools (including a long and fascinating section on the complex history of pencil-making) and musing on processes and social experimentation. David Finkelstein, The Times Literary Supplement There is much that is worthwhile in 'A Better Pencil'. Times Higher Education A gleeful and provocative read. Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday

Author Information

Dennis Baron is Professor of English and Linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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