USA Booknews Best Books 2006 Announced

San Antonio, TX, October 19, 2006 --(PR.com)-- Linguistic criminal Thaddeus Taylor expressed appreciation today to the “smart funny dudes & dudettes” who chose Volume One of the Smoking Pun series as one of the best Humor books of the year. “Here we were concerned that the book might get banned or something, and then this happens—it just goes to show you that legal experts and the well-meaning folks at Save Our Language can have their perspectives broadened from time to time,” said Taylor, referring to the organization that has attempted to block publication of the series. The Save Our Language group, often called simply S.O.L. for short, is concerned that books of this sort constitute an assault on the dignity of the language. S.O.L. President Emeritus Mary M. Webster was said to be in seclusion after the announcement, and did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Readers Encouraged to Participate
The Smoking Pun series features a combination of more or less useful new words, plus etymological notes and entertaining digressions. It also leads the reader to bonus online content at www.smokingpun.com, and provides the opportunity for would-be neologists to submit their own words for future volumes Salt in the Wound and Born Again & Again. This seemingly innocuous format has caused controversy because of the irreverent nature of some of the material, but Taylor points with pride to the fact that volume one contains “no pictures of the Prophet.”

No Time to Stop Evolving
Cerebral Market, established in 2005, takes its mission from a line in Leonard Bernstein’s This I Believe essay: “We must encourage thought, free and creative.” But Fratello Astuto, founding brother of the company, puts it another way:

“When it comes to the human brain, now is no time to stop evolving. It’s vital that we help find new ways to keep the Fun in cerebral functioning.”

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