News of Babel's Dawn, The Book

My publisher is zipping along with work on my book, Babel's Dawn: A Natural History of the Origins of Speech. Tentative publishing date is September 18, which also happens to be the fifth anniversary of the Babel’s Dawn blog. Initial comments have been good. My agent writes, “for insight, power of argument, and clarity of exposition, it’s your best yet.” Of course, part of my agent’s job is to be encouraging. My editor’s job, however, is to be tough, so I was pleased when he wrote, “I love this story and some of this writing is the best you’ve ever managed in the work of yours I’ve read. The clarity, especially with some of the most complex material, is admirable.” So I’m starting out optimistically.