Book Review – Chomsky & Me

Thanks to Bev Stohl and Or Books for sending me a copy of Chomsky & Me to review.

What is Chomsky & Me about?

From Or Books:

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 the New York Times as “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 Me describes a relationship between two quite different people who, through the happenstance of work, form a bond that is both surprising and reciprocally rich.

What I liked about Chomsky & Me

In Chomsky & Me Bev Stohl offers vivid and sparking descriptions that never fail to humanise even the most ephemeral of the people encountered. As someone who has been a part of the academic machine known as ‘tertiary education’ (including at the time of writing this review), it was refreshing and engaging to hear Bev’s perspective on MIT.

In addition to sharing anecdotes from her time working with Noam Chomsky, Stohl’s work also wrestles with what it means to be defined by who you know, and your work: both for Chomsky, and herself. With sensitivity and humour she explores what it looks like to place (and override) boundaries in the face of great external pressure.

It was interesting to see Chomsky, who has been the subject of countless articles, interviews, books, documentaries (I could go on, but you get the idea), from such a close and personable perspective.

It’s common for influential people, such as Chomsky, to be viewed through a critical lens that places emphasis on their politics, ideology and contributions to society. While this is of course natural, and important, doing so can at times run the risk of dehumanising the individual — focusing on the ideas, rather than the person. Both are without a doubt important.

Given that so much time has been spent on exploring the ideas of Noam Chomsky, Stohl’s writing was a refreshing reminder to not forget that even those who seem the most untouchable are, at the end of the day, human.

Stohl’s approach to discussing Noam Chomsky was grounding and satisfying as a reader.

While there is no question that Noam Chomsky is a remarkable person, and Sohl’s recollections of him engaging, I found myself just as (if not more) emotionally  impacted by Stohl’s stories of her own life, intertwined as they are with Chomsky.

Her stories of raising her son, of her early career and doubts, of love and loss, and of her dog, cheeky, Roxy “the cat”, made me tear up and laugh quite a bit too. 

Chomsky & Me is heartful and beautiful, hopeful with a good dose of unflinching realism – a beautiful study on the way the people we surround ourselves with on the day-to-day can have a profound impact.  

If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume there is an instinct for freedom, that there are possibilities to change things, then there is a possibility that you can contribute to making a better world

Noam chomsky

Who should read Chomsky & Me?

Whether you are knowledgeable about Chomsky, or the name only sparks a glancing sense of familiarity, there is plenty to get out of Chomsky & Me. Comparable to memoirs such as My Salinger Year this a worthwhile read, with a strong narrative and an engaging voice.

Well worth checking out! Thanks again to the author and publisher for sending me a copy of the book to review.

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