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“From the very beginning, Rippey's Names on the Land was a fascinating read, a strange hybrid sort of book covering the areas where history, folklore, and linguistics intersect. It is a rare and precious thing, for, while it covers our history of naming (and thus an important, though highly underrated, aspect of American history) in an objective and scientific way, the love and enthusiasm which Rippey has for his subject shows through between the lines and makes even the most boring passages seem witty and engaging. More importantly, a history of naming is a history of the ways in which past Americans have thought about their lives, their homes, their land, an their traditions, and the worth which these things have in terms of passing on to posterity; and thus is quite solidly an aspect of folklore. This is the sort of thing I've been wanting for quite some time: an account not of great men or great battles (though both can be found here) but of the common, ordinary folk whose stories often slip through the cracks of history. Often these stories are lost, and not even Rippey's book can preserve all of them all, even the ones that are addressed. But in this book a great deal of this shines through, even if only in part, and these fragments of flavor are of priceless value. There is little I can say in review about Rippey's subject itself; he has said, even in the book's first chapter ("Of what is attempted in this book"), more than I ever could. ”
Michael wrote this review Wednesday, September 2 2009.
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