{"product_id":"the-tongue-of-adam-abdelfattah-kilito-9780811224932","title":"The Tongue of Adam","description":"In the beginning there was one language--one tongue that Adam used to compose the first poem, an elegy for Abel. \"These days, no one bothers to ask about the tongue of Adam. It is a naive question, vaguely embarrassing and irksome, like questions posed by children, which one can only answer rather stupidly.\" So begins Abdelfattah Kilito's \u003cem\u003eThe Tongue of Adam\u003c\/em\u003e, a delightful series of lectures. With a Borgesian flair for riddles, stories, and subtle scholarly distinctions, Kilito presents an assortment of discussions related to Adam's tongue, including translation, comparative religion, and lexicography: for example, how, from Babel onward, can we explain the plurality of language? Or can Adam's poetry be judged aesthetically, the same as any other poem? Drawing from the commentators of the Koran to Walter Benjamin, from the esoteric speculations of Judaism to Herodotus, \u003cem\u003eThe Tongue of Adam\u003c\/em\u003e is a nimble book about the mysterious rise of humankind's multilingualism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Abdelfattah Kilito\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0811224937\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780811224932\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New Directions Publishing Corporation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/22\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 128\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.20lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.20h x 4.50w x 0.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/10\/2016","brand":"Abdelfattah Kilito","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43926343188735,"sku":"9780811224932","price":13.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_dfd0aafb-5b24-4e5e-aab8-781dbc40fe65.jpg?v=1681082545","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-tongue-of-adam-abdelfattah-kilito-9780811224932","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}