“High-spirited and deliciously erudite, Talk to Text is a fascinating journey through what Gwen Groves Robinson calls the ‘turmoiled development of prose.’ She makes clear that the art of writing prose didn’t just appear full blown; it had to be invented, and ‘the history of prose’s sluggish take-off is full of drama and conflict—and all too often sheer nuttiness.’ Robinson’s sly wit, clever phrasing, and vivid examples, from Greek and Latin literature and beyond, restore grammar to its long-lost etymological cousin, glamor.”—Christopher Benfey, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of English, Mount Holyoke College

“Gwen Groves Robinson’s Talk to Text is a substantial and fascinating book. It traces the transition from orality to literacy in Ancient Near Eastern and Greek cultures, and then more explicitly the ways in which the characteristics and strengths of spoken language were preserved in texts, making literature something deeper and more beautiful than mere literacy. With thorough scholarship, dealing with authors famous and not so, it traces this and related themes in ancient Greek through Latin culture, deep into the Western Middle Ages. There is much of historical interest, much of contemporary relevance.”—James H. Stam, Scholar-in-Residence, Philosophy, American University

“Though writing is the craft of artificially representing speech, it now competes with speech for clarity and precision. In Talk to Text Gwen Groves Robinson traces the contentious and often misguided trajectory of writing from the earliest visual symbols to the most complex and nuanced contemporary sentences. With grace and humor, she analyzes the contributions of our most influential authorial ancestors, so that all those who write can appreciate this precious literary inheritance—and how, in our technological age, we are throwing it away.”—William T. La Moy, former editor of Printing History and curator of rare books and manuscripts, Syracuse University and the Peabody Essex Museum