New York Times Artsbeat blog, “I Me Mine: The Beatles and Their Pronouns” (Aug. 29, 2011)
James W. Pennebaker’s new book “The Secret Life of Pronouns,” which I review in this Sunday’s Book Review, makes it hard to stop thinking about pronouns and the other little “function words” that Pennebaker, a social psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, sees as “the keys to the soul.” Pennebaker is admirably omnivorous when it comes to looking for material that will show how these stealthy words — which include articles, prepositions, conjunctions and auxiliary verbs — reflect our social psyche. One of his more unexpected sources is the lyrical canon of the Beatles.
Read the rest here.