I have never met anyone who is as passionate about the English language as David Crystal, he understands its history and its possibilities better than anyone else in my world, and there is no better way to understand his world than reading this book. An incredible human as Linguist. Anyone who is fascinated with dictionaries is fascinated with life, anyone who is fascinated with life is simply fascinating. David Crystal's life and work is absolutely fascinating. He's done the story of English, now here's the story of him. David Crystal and words, they go together so well. There's something very moving about reading how David Crystal got where he is today. We know of his passion for language now here is his passion for life. Jazz, theatre, travel, and sexy linguistics, there's so much here. If David Crystal is going through a phrase I want to go through it with him. He is a fundamental part of the language I speak, and this insight into the making of the man is personal, honest, and sometimes funny. He rocks. There's so much I wanted to know about David Crystal, not anymore. In his books, in his talks, and in his lectures, David Crystal has gone beyond the call of duty in sharing his passion for language we us, but now it gets personal. He's not your average academic. David Crystal loves and appreciates every word he speaks, and every word written in this book helps us to understand someone who is not just a great linguist, but a true champion and lover of language. Benjamin Zephaniah

• Contents Prologue 1 Being a linguist 2 A semilingual start 3 New worlds 4 Liverpool school 5 Extra-curricular acts 6 Learning, and not learning, about language 7 Becoming academic 8 Surveying 9 Worlds within worlds 10 Becoming professional 11 The sexy subject 12 Meeting a need 13 Choices and consequences 14 Meetings and meetings 15 Looking for remedies 16 Why did you resign? 17 The encyclopedia game 18 Schizoid man 19 Busyness and business Epilogue