Chomsky and Me

My 24 Years Running Noam Chomsky's Office

Bev Boisseau Stohl

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Hardback

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English

OR Books
16 November 2023

Biography: literary; Biography: science, technology & engineering; Memoirs; True stories

Bev Stohl ran the MIT office of the renowned linguist and social critic Noam Chomsky for nearly two and a half decades. This is her account of those years, working next to a man described by theNew York Timesas ""arguably the most important intellectual alive today.""

Through these pages we observe the comings and goings of a constant and varied stream of visitors: the historian Howard Zinn; activists Alex Carey, Peggy Duff, and Dorie Ladner; the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners Lee; actors Catherine Keener and Wallace Shawn; the writer Norman Mailer; gaggles of fourteen-year-old school students, and the world's leading linguists. All make appearances in these stories. Many who visit are as careless of their allotted time as Chomsky is generous with his. Shepherding them out in mid-conversation is one of Bev's more challenging responsibilities.

Other duties include arranging lectures to overflow crowds around the world, keeping unscrupulous journalists at bay, preventing teetering ziggurats of paper and books from engulfing her boss, and switching on his printer when it is deemed ""broken"" by a mind that is engaged less by mundane technology than the realms of academia and activism.

Over the years, what has commenced as a formal working arrangement blossoms into something more: a warm and enduring friendship that involves work trips to Europe, visits with her partner and dog to Noam's summer home on Cape Cod, and a mentorship that challenges Bev with all manner of intriguing mental and practical puzzles.

Published with the approval of its subject and written with affection, insight and a gentle sense of humor,Chomsky and Medescribes a relationship between two quite different people who, through the happenstance of work, form a bond that is both surprising and reciprocally rich.

By: Bev Boisseau Stohl
Imprint: OR Books
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 139mm, Spine: 18mm
ISBN: 9781682193778
ISBN 10: 1682193772
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 16 November 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Bev Boisseau Stohlworked for 24 years as Chomsky's office manager. Her writing has appeared inThe Chronicle of Higher Education, theMIT Press, andStethoscopes and Pencils. She has performed stand-up and improv comedy, and has appeared on TV news shows demonstrating her skill in talking backwards. Her dog, Roxy, joined her at work for 13 years, and was christened ""The Cat"" by Chomsky.

Reviews for Chomsky and Me: My 24 Years Running Noam Chomsky's Office

“This is a beautiful, tender and profound book about one of the most important thinkers of our time, by one of the people who knows him best. A masterpiece of observation and memoir.” —Johann Hari, author of New York Times Bestseller Chasing the Scream “A ringside seat on the life and times of a man regarded by millions as a remote intellectual deity, but who comes into sharp focus through the delightfully warm and humorous lens of Bev Stohl as a relatable mortal … If you want to know the real Noam Chomsky, this is the book for you.” —Amir Amirani