Customer Reviews

Art of Plain Talk, The

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I first encountered this book some 58 years ago in journalism school and I've always kept its message in mind, not only as a journalist for 20 years but as a philosopher for the next 20 years. You can't go wrong with this one. Bill Barger

Once upon a time, long ago and far away, my Uncle Ian gave me a copy of The Art of Plain Talk by Rudolf Flesch. I was 19-years-old. It had a great impact on me and my writing. I have always been a lover of words and writing; I have earned my living as a writer, journalist and editor all my life. This is the best book on writing I have ever read. I was lucky enough that I happened upon a first edition at a yard sale a few years ago. I treasure it. I am sorry to see that it is out-of-print. Get a copy, you'll never regret it.

This book delivers precisely what the title promises. This book is very useful for those who wish to communicate clearly, without propaganda or muddy thinking. This is a book that should be mandatory both in high school, and college, for anyone who needs to communicate in writing. The post WW I generation of the German speaking world produced some very good thinkers, including many of those who shaped Quantum Mechanics, though history has allowed Adolf and crew to overshadow them. I had the priviledge of sitting in on Rudolf Arnheim's lectures, in college. Visual Thinking: Thirty-Fifth Anniversary Printing His prose was extremely clear, and like a lake with no turbulence, one could see to the point, or bottom of the lake, metaphorically, with great clarity. Another professor said that teaching was the repetitive revelation of the obvious, to the as yet unaware. This book has many obvious points, that aren't clear to many. Americans, statistically, fear public speaking more than death. Part of that is lack of practice, due to dependence on broadcast media. This book is a great part of preparation for effective public speaking. In scope, for its subject, I could compare this book to Lifetide, for Biology. It is not merely dry parts, it is the 5 blind men of Hindustan suddenly getting their sight, and seeing the elephant for the first time. The Seven Mysteries of Life is another book that must have taken 20 years of gathering, to write. This kind of book more than merely informs, it delights. If the Next Whole Earth Catalogs were still around, this book would be cited, in its subject area, as one of the top 3, if not the best. This book, along with The Art of Clear Thinking are something that everyone who communicates with language would find useful. I send books to colleges in the third world, out of my own pocket. Since Surface Mail ended, this is now expensive, even in flat rate boxes, so I only send very high value books. This is a book I send. This book is about clear speaking, doing for that what Tracking and the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign does for tracking. If I had to teach high school with only 10 books, this would be one of the 10. Every book is a product of its age. This book comes from a generation that had to do math problems on paper or with slide rules, and had to master their craft, without software to disguise weak abilities. It will be useful reading so long as people use some kind of rational thought, and logical progression, in communication.

The Art of Plain Talk was published in 1946, but it's information is timeless. If you are serious about being a better writer, you would be wise to check out this book.