You know the authors' names. You recognize the title. You've probably used this book yourself. This is The Elements of Style, the classic style manual, now in a fourth edition. A new Foreword by Roger Angell reminds readers that the advice of Strunk & White is as valuable today as when it was first offered.This book's unique tone, wit and charm have conveyed the principles of English style to millions of readers. Use the fourth edition of "the little book" to make a big impact with writing.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"...a marvellous and timeless little book... Here, succinctly, elegantly and without fuss are the essentials of writing clear, correct English." John Clare, "The Telegraph"
From the Back Cover
Some acclaim for previous editions:
"Buy it, study it, enjoy it. It's as timeless as a book can be in our age of volubility."
— The New York Times
"No book in shorter space, with fewer words, will help any writer more than this persistent little volume."
— The Boston Globe
"White is one of the best stylists and most lucid minds in this country. What he says and his way of saying it are equally rewarding."
— The Wall Street Journal
"The book remains a nonpareil: direct, correct, and delightful."
— The New Yorker
". . . Should be the daily companion of anyone who writes for a living, and for that matter, anyone who writes at all."
— Greensboro (N.C.) Daily News
"This excellent book, which should go off to college with every freshman, is recognized as the best book of its kind we have."
— St. Paul Dispatch – Pioneer Press
"It's hard to imagine an engineer or a manager who doesn't need to express himself in English prose as part of his job. It's also hard to imagine a writer who will not be improved by a liberal application of The Elements of Style."
— Telephone Engineer & Management
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
345 of 366 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
When I write a book I use only a handful of reference tools: dictionary, thesaurus, Gregg's Reference Handbook, Writers Market, and the Elements of Style. Strunk and White is a wonderfully-written, extraordinarily concise tool that pays homage to classic high-end English. It takes language insight to make this prediction in 1979: "By the time this paragraph makes print, uptight... rap, dude, vibes, copout, and funky will be the words of yesteryear." The book begins with eleven "Elementary Rules of Usage," and then continues with eleven more "Elementary Rules of Composition," and eleven "Matters of Form." Each is presented as a brief statement followed by another sentence or two of explanation and a few clarifying examples. This amazing compilation fills only thirty-eight pages, yet covers ninety percent of good writing fundamentals. My favorite section is Chapter IV, a twenty-seven-page, alphabetical listing of commonly misused words and expressions. Here's a trade secret: when my manuscript is "done," I then turn to this chapter and use my word processor's Find function to study every instance of all these problematic words and phrases. I never fail to find errors this way. Many great writers are so only because they've learned to make use of the best available tools. The end of the book contains an essay on "An Approach to Style" with a list of twenty-one "Reminders." Those who fight the apparently-natural tendency to go against these recommendations succeed as writers. Those who don't, fail. It's that simple. The single drawback of The Elements of Style is that it's too concise; it does not stand alone as an all-encompassing tutorial or reference guide. Many readers will seek other sources for more in-depth explanation of style elements. Despite that, it easily replaces ten pounds of other reference material. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.
121 of 129 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As the 'rules' in this iconic book take up only 14 pages, it continually amazes me how often I can find the answer to a grammar or punctuation guestion within those pages. It doesn't cover everything, and some of the 'rules' are of course changing with the passage of time - but if a wannabe writer can't afford a whole bookcase of tomes on How to Write, then this is the one he or she should buy.
Beyond those 14 pithy pages, however, are another 100 or so that extend the value of the book immeasurably: Principles of Composition, Commonly Misused Words, and perhaps the most valuable: An Approach to Style, which gives excellent advice along the lines of Do not overwrite, Avoid qualifiers, Don't over-explain, Avoid adverbs, Avoid dialect, Don't inject opinion, and tons of others.
When all's said and done, however, one of the very best parts is a wonderful essay by the inimitable EB White himself - the Introduction, which serves as a perfect example of all that the rest of the small book preaches: write concisely, clearly, and well, and say something worthwhile.
Other books for writers to consider: Bird by Bird, On Writing, and Writing Down the Bones.
Beyond those 14 pithy pages, however, are another 100 or so that extend the value of the book immeasurably: Principles of Composition, Commonly Misused Words, and perhaps the most valuable: An Approach to Style, which gives excellent advice along the lines of Do not overwrite, Avoid qualifiers, Don't over-explain, Avoid adverbs, Avoid dialect, Don't inject opinion, and tons of others.
When all's said and done, however, one of the very best parts is a wonderful essay by the inimitable EB White himself - the Introduction, which serves as a perfect example of all that the rest of the small book preaches: write concisely, clearly, and well, and say something worthwhile.
Other books for writers to consider: Bird by Bird, On Writing, and Writing Down the Bones.
356 of 397 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
While skimming through Stephen King's book ON WRITING, he highly recommended THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE. Taking his advice I searched for a copy and found one in a free bin--of all places! I looked at it and decided that it was so much better than any other textbook that I had seen that I decided to WRITE IT. Three pages a day for a month or so. It's a very short book, only about 80 pages or so. You learn everything from words that are often spelled wrong, to punctuation, to style, etc. Very blunt and to the point. No exercises in here, problems 1 - 10 all. Nope, you just read this book and enjoy it. Why, there's actually a little humor in it at times, which is pretty good for a textbook. Now I've heard some people say that this book is bad because it is saying to follow all these rules and don't stray from them. I think they got it all wrong. This book is essentially saying this: you can't blaze new trails in the English language without having a solid foundation in the basics first! This goes for ANYTHING. You don't suddenly set off an a 200 mile trek, you slowly work up to it, starting from the basics. After you have mastered the basics, then you can break free. One thing that this book continually points out is that it is OFTEN A MATTER OF EAR. Meaning that if you are experienced enough, you will know whether to stick to the traditional or whether to be liberal when phrasing something, for example. By far this is the most talked-about textbook that I've seen and the most valuable.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Meh...
I found this book to be so-so. If you're already a decent writer, most of the styles you learn about are common sense. Read more
Published 19 days ago by JB
Simple, orderly and sincere
A surprisingly entertaining as well as useful little book. Good writing is about "plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity", it says. Read more
Published 19 days ago by Simon Bendle
It's me Grammer and Stile Bible
I must confess forthwith and without further ado that I absolutely completely and utterly ADORE this little gemlet of a book that has helped me to immeasurably improve my English... Read more
Published 20 days ago by Taranis
If You Write, You Must Have This Book
If you write--for school, for work, or for a profession--this book should be in your personal library. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Julie L. Brown
Best writing source!
I'm currently reading several books on writing and this by far is the best one. It goes straight to the point, and it's written in a such a way that anyone can understand. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Yeah Factor
OK as Far as It Goes
I know this book has its devoted followers who swear it's essential for the act of writing but to me it feels like an ad hoc collection of do's and don'ts which may help you polish... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Chuck
Great resource
I found this book when I was reading a lifehacker.com article in how to make your writing better. After seeing how ridiculously cheap it was here on Amazon, I decided to get... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Versatile
Everyone that writes regularly should read this and have it handy
This book teaches you the core fundamentals of sound writing. I've referred back to it so many times over the years, I've had to buy several copies because they kept wearing... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Kynn
The Classic
This is the classic book on the subject and it remains remarkably relevant. Though not as easily readable as some of the more current books on the subject, it is a wonderful... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Patricia Schroeder
great style book
Brilliant analysis, and some of the most practical advice on writing (not just grammar, but actual writing) I have ever received.
Published 2 months ago by J. Kunkel
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