Customer Reviews

How to Say It Style Guide

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This is my new favorite book! It's a little thin paperback, and that's the best thing about it: no lengthy discussions of arcane grammar. This book is just what you need to know. If you're writing and you have a question, you can look up the answer in seconds. Spell check and grammar check only go so far; they can't tell you whether to capitalize "than" in a title, or whether to leave one or two spaces between sentences. I consider myself to be a good writer, but even I get confused. ("Red, blue, and green" or "red, blue and green"?) Since my job involves writing endorsements that are read by the entire company, I can't afford to look stupid. Strunk and White's style manual is great if you want a course in writing, but if you're looking for quick reference, How to Say It is the new standard. I highly recommend it.

I have had the opportunity to read a number of this author's Quotation books, as well as her books giving advice on letter writing and on Non-sexist Wordfinding. In short, she is terrifically knowledgeable, and her writing style is vibrant and entertaining! I highly recommend this new book, and any of her older books, too.

In particular, The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women, Quotations for the Soul, and Quotations on Love are well worth owning. Rosalie Maggio has gradually developed a vast collection of information about words and their uses, and she does a fine job sharing that knowledge so we can all be better writers and readers.