Customer Reviews

The St. Martin's Handbook

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are looking for a writing handbook for a college writing class, this is the best there is. Ideally, you should get the paperback, but it appears to be out of print.

The volume wastes little time or space on trivia (web pages, business memos, etc.). The handling of grammar is clear and to the point. Discussions of reading and note-taking, argumentation, and analysis are useful, if not always inspired. Coverage of documentation and research writing is as good as such manuals get, which is to say decent without being fully satisfactory. Much of the pedagogical material interspersed with the rest, particularly about ESL students, cultural backgrounds, writing literature papers, and so forth is very well done.

Unlike every other manual I saw when my program reviewed nearly fifty of these tomes, Lunsford's text is clearly written by someone who understands what students will actually be asked to do in college classes. She doesn't lard the book with a lot of bad Mickey Mouse assignments. Those who actually read the text will find that she moves rapidly from basics (grammar, etc.) into elementary academic writing, which is of course exactly what professors will demand of students. Every other text I read through seems to think that professors want their students to write position papers expressing their opinions!

Lunsford has a charming, clear writing style, and the book is simply and clearly laid out. Those who only flip through it rapidly may think it insufficiently glitzy, but you buy a manual for its content, not its colors.

If you have to choose one writing textbook, this is far and away the best. Unfortunately, that just means it's acceptable, not that it's actually particularly good.

One day someone is going to write a manual that's about 500 pages (instead of 1,000), that's simple and clear and to the point, and that costs about $25. Until that happens, Andrea Lunsford's manual is your best bet for college writing.

Since the anglophiles had to change the MLA bibliography rules, this book is now dated. It's fine for grammar and whatnot but don't follow the MLA citation guidelines.

We use this book in class every day and it has been extremely helpful in improving my grammar skills. I am sure that I will sell most of the school books that I collect over time, but I'm keeping this one for future reference.

This is a great book for beginning writing! I really fell that I will use this book though out my writing career!

The book has been helping me build my written and spoken english. I now have a better understanding of how some words are written and why.
If you're learning to write formally, I recommend this book to you.

Poorly packaged but came without damage and was as promised,
Will do business again.

Poorly packaged but came without damage and was as promised,
Will do business again.

The book was in good condiotion, it serves it's purpose well in two of my classes, the cost went well with the condition

It's handy for a quick review of formats that you usually already know of, but there's not that many examples for very specific things that you need like quoting sources.

This book was purchased for my daughter's senior english class. I was purchasing the book used with the intent of selling it back after she completes using it in her last year in high school. However, after purchasing the book at a much lower used price and reviewing the book, I have decided that the book is in a much better quality, it actually looks new. We will be keeping the book as I am sure she will be using it for probably all of her college years and beyond.

Thanks Amazon, I'm glad I did not have to pay the full price.

Seller advertised this as new, but it was not. Very worn and dog-eared, not worth the price.