The Kingdom of Speech

By: Tom Wolfe

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

The maestro storyteller and reporter provocatively argues that what we think we know about speech and human evolution is wrong.

Tom Wolfe, whose legend began in journalism, takes us on an eye-opening journey that is sure to arouse widespread debate. The Kingdom of Speech is a captivating, paradigm-shifting argument that speech -- not evolution -- is responsible for humanity's complex societies and achievements.

From Alfred Russel Wallace, the Englishman who beat Darwin to the theory of natural selection but later renounced it, and through the controversial work of modern-day anthropologist Daniel Everett, who defies the current wisdom that language is hard-wired in humans, Wolfe examines the solemn, long-faced, laugh-out-loud zig-zags of Darwinism, old and Neo, and finds it irrelevant here in the Kingdom of Speech.

Critic reviews

Praise for The Kingdom of Speech:

"The author's own prose is, as ever, a marvelous mix of gleeful energy and whip-around-the-neck control, and his book is a gas to read."
—Charles C. Mann, Wall Street Journal

"....a hundred years from now, the one whose work will still be read - whose work will remain imperishable in the face of any new discoveries - is Wolfe. In the long game, the kingdom belongs to him."
—Caitlin Flanagan, New York Times Book Review

"Tom Wolfe aims his unparalleled wit at evolution, arguing that complex language is the singular superpower that allows humans to rule the planet."
—Harper's Bazaar

"This being Tom Wolfe, the ponderous debate over language and evolution takes on a kind of pop-art pizzazz....A curiously entertaining little book."
—James Sullivan, Boston Globe

"Mr. Wolfe, now 85, shows no sign of mellowing. His new book, The Kingdom of Speech, is his boldest bit of dueling yet. It's a whooping, joy-filled and hyperbolic raid on, of all things, the theory of evolution....a provocation rather than a dissertation. The sound it makes is that of a lively mind having a very good time, and enjoying the scent of its own cold-brewed napalm in the morning."
—Dwight Garner, New York Times

"(Wolfe's) trademark rich reporting is unmistakable throughout.... he brings to this academic debate the same irreverence and entertaining quality that lit up Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.... You'll find here the same manic prose, the hip rhythms and cleverly crafted arguments of the genius Tom Wolfe. Which you must read."
—Don Oldenburg, USA Today

"In this mettlesome, slyly funny takedown, Wolfe spotlights two key scientific rivalries, each pitting a scrappy outsider against the academy....Wolfe's pithy and stirring play-by-play coverage of compelling lives and demanding science transforms our perception of speech....As always, white-suited Wolfe will be all over the media...stirring things up and sending readers to the shelves."—Donna Seaman, Booklist

"A fresh look at an old controversy, as a master provocateur suggests that human language renders the theory of evolution more like a fable than scientific fact....Wolfe throws a Molotov cocktail at conventional wisdom in a book that won't settle any argument but is sure to start some."—Kirkus Reviews

"In lively, irreverent, and witty prose, Wolfe argues that speech, not evolution, sets humans apart from animals and is responsible for all of humankind's complex achievements....Wolfe's vibrant study manages to be clever, funny, serious, satirical, and instructive."—Publishers Weekly

Rollicking takedown of Neo-Darwinism

This seems to me an unusual book: a book that aims (and succeeds) in showing that the neo-Darwinian "modern synthesis" (and all of its derivative modern incarnations) is a complete failure in explaining how humans developed speech.

Written in a style that pure Tom Wolfe and with hilariously on-point narration by Robert Petkoff, this is a short book that I found fascinating from beginning to end. I learned about Darwin conspiring with Charles Lyell to present his idea of natural selection before Alfred Russel Wallace; how Wallace later turned on the theory due to its lack of explanatory power, how Noam Chomsky lorded over the linguistics world for 5 decades and how his biggest theory of language has proven to be a house of cards. All in all, a fascinating read. Highly recommended for all those with an interest in science and/or language or for those who can't get enough Tom Wolfe!

FIVE STARS.

A Book by an Atheist That Every Creationist Should Read

Darwin and Wallace; Chomsky and Everett. Two people you undoubtedly have heard of and two probably not. What these two pairs have in common and how they differ are the themes that the eloquent Tom Wolfe creatively explores in this small but powerful work. What does linguistics have to do with evolution? Much in every way say Darwin and Chomsky. "Be careful what you see" in Wallace and Everett.

You can either hate him or love him, but you should not ignore what the pugnacious Wolfe has to say about his past anti-hero Darwin and his current antagonist Chomsky.

If you ever wonder how intellectual elites rule our world, read this book. And if you want to see how contrary voices can be squashed by those elites, here are some sad examples.

I listened to this book and it was, I think, even more powerful than reading it, mainly because of Wolfe's sometimes biting prose. But read it even if you don't have Audiobooks.

Fascinating

The narrator is amazing, made the subject that much more riveting. I have read a fair amount about Darwin, but never heard this angle. I had trouble pushing the pause button to get my stuff done! Well done.

Just Don't If You are Literate

What did you like best about The Kingdom of Speech? What did you like least?

It's Tom Wolfe--that answers both questions.

What did you like best about this story?

Wolfe's way with words.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I have been a subscriber since Audible began and have never been moved to write a review. This is the worst job of pronunciation I have encountered. Please tell narrators to look up words they don't use every day. Even then, High School biology student know that Gregor Mendel's name is not pronounced like a discount store in Massapequa. As to the Latin and German, he just didn't try. I like the book but it is agony to hear.

Was The Kingdom of Speech worth the listening time?

Yes, if you can stand the narration.

Any additional comments?

Did I mention the narration.

The four hours flew by

Personal preference : listen to this audiobook before reading the myriad insightful reviews.

It's just that kinda book.

Afterwards, think it over, read the zany reviews here on audible... and enjoy the audiobook again.

P.S.
Disclosure:
I bought the audiobook.
And, (still) liked it just as much.

Takedown of a pseudointellectual bully!

In a battle of octogenarians Tom Wolfe uses simple words to take down academic and major bully Noam Chomsky. Along the way he destroys the modern theory of how human language "evolved". That was fun! He also takes some effective shots at Charles Darwin who likely stole his theory of evolution from Alfred Russel Wallace.

The Kingdom of Speech examines the one thing, language/speech, that separates humans from all other animals. I love this little book!

The Cosmogony of Language

Fantastic dramatized synopsis of the human search for meaning through the vehicle of speech as an artifact of the act of, "being human." Certainly an opinion creeps in as this is not an academic approach by any means, as anyone that has read Wolfe will know, but that spice is much needed for a topic that could be viewed as stuffy and distant to the uninstitutionalized (which is yet another point to be made in Wolfe's overarching theme).

A Clarity to the Speech Conundrum

The clarity of Tom Wolfe's detective unraveling of the many myths surrounding the origin of speech was truly a delight. The historic details brings to life speech's incredible importance in man's history. A fascinating read which is highly recommended.

In praise of speech, but misses the point

I thought this was going to be a clever philosophical opening-up of the theory of evolution. In some ways it was. It was a very entertaining and well written history of evolutionary theory and linguistic theory, arguing for an insufficiency of evolutionary thinkers in the field like Noam Chomsky.

However, once it got to the linguistic section, where he argues that there is a dead-end in thinking about the origin of language in evolutionary terms, I feel like he started to fall flat. He felt particularly bitter against Noam Chomsky when resorting to attacking his character and political positions to support his argument for the weakness of his intellectual position.

And the final chapter, which explains the title, made me feel that he was totally out of his depth in endeavoring to write this book, because I feel that he completely missed the stakes of what people are endeavoring to do by explaining things in evolutionary terms.

Applying my X-Ray vision goggles, I think I get the sense that his deal is that he had become more conservatively aligned and pessimistic about Liberalism and “wokeness” and the decline of religion (in a Jordan Petersonian way) when writing this work, and, with not very much clarity internally, was trying to help indirectly pry open some more space for traditionalism and a useful fundamentalism.

I really think he would fit right in if he were alive today, as an “offensive” anti-woke entertainer. I must stress that, though I am woke, this book was highly listenable, with a great vocal performance, but also a very witty writing style. I just think the author invested more in style than substance, which grasped my attention long after I realized this wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.

A short and excellent classic by Wolfe

Now I know what Chomsky and Darwin were up to. A great reappraisal (with meticulous investigation) of both.