Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and, Like, Whatever [Hardcover]

Leslie Savan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0375402470 | ISBN-13: 978-0375402470 | Publication Date: October 4, 2005

A marvelously original and informative book about the ever-changing American language that offers surprising insights into why we talk the way we talk.

With dazzling wit and acuity, three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Leslie Savan dissects contemporary language to discover what our most popular idioms reveal about America today. She traces the paths that words and expressions travel from obscurity to ubiquity. She describes how “real people” create slang and colorful phrases (I don’t think so; Bring it on!; Dude; Outside the box); how the media, advertising, politics, and business mine the language for these phrases in order to better sell products, ideas, and personalities; and how these expressions, now that they’ve hit the big time, then burst out of our mouths as “celebrity words,” newly glamorous and persuasive.

Words like Duh! and Whatever have become such an indispensable form of communication that they’re replacing our need to articulate any real thought. Whether it’s George Tenet convincing George W. Bush that finding WMD in Iraq would be “a slam dunk” or Microsoft telling you that its latest software is a “no-brainer,” this bright, snappy language affects us all–up close and personal.

Smart, dynamic, and great fun, Slam Dunks and No-Brainers is–for everyone who loves the mysteries and idiosyncrasies of language–well, a no-brainer.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Savan, a former Village Voice columnist and Pulitzer finalist for her analysis of advertising, is a cultural pessimist in the tradition of Paul Fussell and Neil Postman. Her target here is the "verbal kudzu" of "pop" language: catchphrases and buzz words spread by the media that are, she says, replacing thought with preprogrammed verbal responses. The longer she goes on, though, the more her definition of "pop" expands to include any modern locution she doesn't like, until even words like "agenda" come under attack. As Savan guiltily admits, her own prose is laden with such language, and though she tries to use it ironically, she quickly sails over the boundary separating skillful deployment of a well-chosen cliché or two from annoying repetition of hundreds. Her argument is further weakened by its lack of focus. More often than not, her only proof of a phrase's deleterious effect on society is a list of public utterances. Serious cultural issues occasionally emerge, like the spread of black slang to white society. But overall, this rambling, self-conscious diatribe against what Savan views as the media-marketing complex veers more toward grumbling than strong social critique.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Language mavens rejoice! This new book by three-time Pulitzer finalist Savan is spunky, well reasoned, perceptive, and massively entertaining. It's a nearly encyclopedic catalog of what the author calls pop language: "the catchwords, phrases, inflections, and quickie concepts that Americans seem unable to communicate without." Terms that rely on inflection (Hel-lo?! for example) are well represented, and Savan carefully explains how inflection can change meaning ("whatever" versus "what-ever"). Pop language has increased mightily over the years, the author explains, thanks in large part to the increasing ubiquity of advertising and the resulting clamor for more eye-catching, brain-catching pop phrases (like "Whassup!"). At once an examination of modern pop language--and, by extension, pop culture--and a rumination on our often-mindless acceptance of dumbed-down forms of expression, the book is sure to make readers a little more conscious of what comes out of their mouths. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Knopf (October 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375402470
• ISBN-13: 978-0375402470
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,020,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT Return, October 11, 2005

By 

book lover (new york, ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and, Like, Whatever (Hardcover)

For years I was a fan of Savan's ad column in the Village Voice. She had a startling way of zeroing in on culture through the prism of advertisements: she was shrewd, funny, wonderfully insightful. She could draw my attention to cultural foibles I'd never recognized before, but that then became unmistakable. Now here she is in this book, all those things again, and more. I love that this time, she's appraising culture through pop language. What better way to go???? While I was reading this, I kept finding myself thinking, Yes! Exactly! Savan has vision, voice and heart. This is a really good book.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Usual Great Stuff, October 16, 2005

By 

Marc Cooper (Woodland Hills, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and, Like, Whatever (Hardcover)

"Yessss!" I say pumping my fist jaggedly into the air. Leslie Savan is one of our smartest critics and her new book crackles with the predictable dosage of both biting wit and sharp insight. It's a merciless tear-down of, um like, the way we talk nowadays. And if you think the way we talk doesn't directly influence the WAY we think, or don't think, then you're just plain wrong. During the 1990's, Savan's columns in the Village Voice were a must-read. Never saw anything like them before nor since. And while you're waiting to see a new series from her, take a read of Slam Dunks and hope to hell you're not reading about yourself! Either way, you're gonna love ot.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read This Book Now!, October 10, 2005

By 

Jack Zeigler (Marlton, New Jersey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and, Like, Whatever (Hardcover)

Slam Dunks and No-Brainers helps clean your brain of the garbage that's been collecting through decades of misuse and abuse. Read it before you watch any more TV or pick up a new magazine. A terrific read -- highly recommended.