Customer Reviews

Technical Communication (10th Edition)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

John Lannon was a successful author of a college writing and composition textbook. He then created various spinoffs so that his publisher could cover more markets: business writing, technical writing, and so on (for both college and high school).

So he's really not a current specialist in technical writing, and he's not employed as a technical writer. He's just an English instructor who has been using essentially the same basic materials in all his books for decades.

This text is a perfect example. It has very little to do with today's field of technical communications. There are many other textbooks that have more specific and up-to-date examples and guidelines for contemporary technical writers. Any book by Hackos, for example, runs circles around this one.

In any case, he and his publisher don't need your single-copy sale. They sell thousands of these books for coursewide use at many schools across the country for use in very elementary courses. They don't care about individual users.

So save your money and buy something else!

I had the displeasure of using this textbook in my Technical Writing course at the local university. This author lacked depth in his discussions on all the topics. That probably explains the addition of supplemental course material. The examples used in this textbook were acceptable, but I was still left hanging with "what if" questions unanswered. The organization of this book also needs some improvement. On a positive note (yes there is a positive side to this), I found the Appendix very useful as a reference guide, though.

The answer is nothing. This 9th edition is practically the same as 8th. This author must be the greediest man in the academic circle. Over half of the colleges in US use this book for technical writing, and he's still charging people almost $84 for it. Hasn't he made enough money with the 1st edition already?

The key to technical writing is best described as clear-concise-simple. The most accurate review of this book is to simply add NOT to each of these goals.It is NOT Clear - NOT Concise - Not Simple. It does boast one quality. It is vastly overpriced.
The writers style is easy to describe. It is very much like those bookshelf size computer manuals that we have all come to know and "love" so well!

Other reviews seem to focus on the fact that the newer edition doesn't have enough "new stuff." The examples are updated, the listed websites are updated, there are several expanded sections. Technical writing isn't like neuroscience or some field that is rapidly expanding, so it's not going to have huge new sections of material. If there is any drawback to the book, it's that it covers EVERYTHING which may be overwhelming if you are just want to pick up a quick reference.

Overall it's a good book particularly if you are using it for a class where you have an instructor who can take you into more depth on each topic. It's not a Stephen King style page turner, but obviously that's not what it's trying to be.

Recommended for savvy readers and students.

This book is a niche filler. It presents very little useful information. It expounds upon and gives examples of obvious and common-sense ideas, wasting rather a lot of ink. I'm sure Mr. Lannon is a nice guy, but my bet is he is a bit dull. The plus side is that the book is quite colorful and laid out logically, but it just really doesn't feel like college material.

The book is great, awesome in fact, I just love it. My only problem was that it did not come with an access code that would allow me access to my online class. The code is only good once, so that was why I did not purchase a used book. Assuming-and we all know where that leads-that it came with the code was my mistake apparently. I then had to pay for the online code seperately, and that cost me another $70. So, all told, I paid more for the book from Amazon than I would have at the college bookstore, who sold the new text with the access code. This could have been avoided had there been any way to determine beforehand if the text came with an online access code. So next time, please, make it so that future buyers have a way to determine if the text comes with everything they need before they buy. That seems only fair, and moral. Remember, fool me once, shame on you; but fool me twice, shame on me. Rest assured that next time, I won't be so trusting. It may even cost you my business.

This book is a step-by-step instruction to different kinds of technical writing. It is easy to understand and follow. The topics are well organized and clearly outlined, which makes it easy to read.
It's a nice reference book if you have to look up different writing styles.

I needed this book for my class, but I was not aware that if I purchased it on Amazon.com that it would not come with the access code needed for my online english course. Otherwise, the book is pretty good and informative.

This book is written well and is a useful tool to use when writing everything from a resume and cover letter to a complete proposal. It also give instructions on how to make a web page and scripting in html. Although I am sure that this material is very similiar to that of the previous editions, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to write better.

I wish that I had not read the previous bad reviews and ordered this book in hardcover instead of a used softcover.