He also notes that "Everett didn't slay [Chomsky's theory of] universal grammar: Later linguists found that the Pirahã language indeed had recursion (e.g., "I want the same hammock you just showed me") [citation needed].

In concluding his review, Coyne states that "I'm not sure why Wolfe bears such animus against evolution and the use of evidence rather than bluster to support claims about reality.

The Kingdom of Speech is traversing the right territory," but he then concludes that the book "is too loose, too glib, and, in a few places, too glaringly flawed.

"[6] In some contrast to these opinions, Peter York in The Sunday Times claims that the geneticist Steve Jones admires Wolfe's grasp of both the Darwin literature and the "real weaknesses" of Chomsky's view of language origins.

"[9] John McWhorter observed in his Vox review that Wolfe revealed a fundamental misunderstanding of the Chomsky-Everett controversy, and concluded that the author "ultimately misses the essence of the debate from various angles."