Customer Reviews

Aspen Handbook for Legal Writers: A Practical Reference

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The only good thing I can say about this book is that it offers countless examples of what good writers shouldn't do.

Did this book have an editor? It recites established rules -- e.g., "don't use unnecssary words" -- and then proceeds to violate them right and left.

It contains rampant verbosity, misplaced modifiers, "creative" abuse of punctuation, comically bungled phrases, a grade-schooler's command of traditional sentence formation, and more! Anything you can think of to screw up a phrase, sentence or paragraph, this book has it. One needn't be a grammatical prude to take offense at its mauling of our language. This from someone holding herself out as a writer? Did she dictate this thing and not bother to proofread it?

I'm stunned by its lameness. And Aspen is a highly reputable publisher -- go figure. On top of everything else, this book has been RE-released. Have Aspen's top people even glanced at it?

I've read a number of books in this field, and any one of them would be better than this. If you're really interested in improving your writing, go with something -- anything -- by Bryan Garner. Or, if you're shooting for something simpler, get a secretary's guide.

Something you select at random will surely be better.

If you want a good book get this one it has everything in it you every what in a book about learning. I used it all the time for all my class at college.