- ISBN13: 9780205313426
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Groundbreaking New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
The hardcover version of the most indispensable writing resource!
- Features a new Glossary of grammatical terms
- Includes a new Foreword by Roger Angell
- Retains the classic principles of English style
You know the authors’ names. You recognize the title. You’ve probably used this book yourself. This is The Elements of Style, the classic style manual, now in a fourth edition. The revisions to the new edition are purposely kept minimal in order to retain the book’s unique tone, wit, and charm. A new Glossary of the grammatical terms used in the book provides a convenient reference for readers. The discussion of pronoun use is revised to reflect the contemporary concern with sexist language. In addition, there are numerous slight revisions in the book itself which implement this advice. A new Foreword by Roger Angell reminds readers that the advice of Strunk & White is as valuable today as when it was first offered.This book has conveyed the principles of English style to millions of readers. Use the fourth edition of “the small book” to make a huge impact with writing.
William Strunk, Jr. first used his own book, The Elements of Style, in 1919 for his English 8 course at Cornell University. The book was published in 1935 by Oliver Strunk.
E. B. White was a student in Professor Strunk’s class at Cornell, and used “the small book” for himself. Commissioned by Macmillan to revise Strunk’s book, White edited the 1959 and 1972 editions of The Elements of Style.Amazon.com Review
A masterpiece in the art of clear and concise writing, and an exemplar of the principles it clarifies.
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One word from _The New York Times_ quote on the cover of this book (my edition, anyway) speaks volumes.
“volubility”
Whazzat mean? Straight away I’m place off. Straight away I’m looking for something else to read. Maybe take Wordsworth’s advice and listen to the song of the wood linnet. Books like this _are_ a dull and endless strife.
English major. Graduated cum laude. Read several hundred books.
This book is full of pompous, didactic sentences such as, “Form the possessive of singular nouns by adding ’s.”
I say, “Form the possessive of singular nouns by adding pineapples!”
Sure, it’s a Dadaist sentiment. But I reckon a lot of fantastic writers, paradoxically, started making sense of their writing by abandoning sense and rules (the stuff of editors). And a excellent editor is in league with that grand purpose of bringing the author’s noblest intent to fruition.
Use rules when you risk being misunderstood if you don’t use them.
The best insight into excellent writing, in my opinion, comes not from a professional writer but from the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, speaking of the ancient Roman and Greek writers: “I’ve always been a lover of the small sentence and the pointed aphorism.” Read his _Twilight of the Idols_ for stunning writing and small sentences full of meaning and madness.
And leave this book to the pedants.
Rating: 1 / 5
This is a very poor book on grammar. While it is probably written correctly, it is simply not accessible to the general public. I threw out my copy of Strunk and White many years ago. It was hard to follow, complicated, and written in a “style” that was very Cornell Academic! Sure, we can look at it as a relic in the history of English writing, but just don’t try to use it as a desk reference book!
(By the way, I replaced my copy with the St. Martin’s Handbook)
Rating: 1 / 5
Serious composition teachers no longer use this book. Many of the prescriptive imperatives within its pages are vague, arbitrary, or flat-out incorrect.
Students don’t learn to write by flipping through a style guide while writing papers.
Rating: 1 / 5
I suppose that this book might be of some use as an antidote for semi-literate Americans who’ve read one too many articles by William F. Buckley and chose that they’d like to posess his “eloquence.” But for anyone who thinks that written English should aspire to beauty rather than mere functionality, it’s about 100 pages of the worst imaginable sanctimonius claptrap, pressed between two glossy small covers.
Rating: 1 / 5
Accurate and concise, a real time saver!
Rating: 2 / 5