Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English, 3rd Edition [Hardcover]

Patricia T. O'Conner (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 17, 2009

It?s been called ?possibly the most popular book on grammar ever published.? Now the witty bestseller that took the nation by storm is back in a revised, expanded edition with new dos and don?ts from top to bottom.

In this new Woe Is I, Patricia T. O?Conner displays the same fresh, irreverent humor that has charmed hundreds of thousands of readers. There are new chapters on spelling and pronunciation, and updates throughout. But you?ll find the same down-to-earth explanations in clear, plain English?the same sensible solutions to the grammar mysteries that bug even the best of us. O?Conner manages to unscramble the most complicated problems in simple, easyto- swallow language. So you won?t encounter the kind of intimidating terminology that made you want to skip your high school English class. This funny, wise, and indispensable guide shows readers how to:

? avoid the persistent grammatical errors that tie everyone?even presidents!? in knots
? watch their tongues and learn to pronounce commonly mangled words
? correctly use dozens of much-abused words and phrases Whatever your problem?intimidated by possessives? puzzled over pronouns? clueless about how to say ?banal???the updated Woe Is I provides witty, jargon-free answers to all your questions about the basics as well as the subtleties of grammar, style, and usage. No wonder The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called O?Conner?s classic ?the best primer on English usage to come along since Strunk and White?s The Elements of Style.?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Former New York Times Book Review editor and linguistic expert O'Conner (Words Fail Me, You Send Me) updates her bestselling guide to grammar, an invigorating and entertaining dissection of our ever-evolving language. In this third edition, O'Conner guides readers through conversational conundrums with aplomb, filling in not only the logic behind the appropriate choice for, say, possessives, but also explaining such oddities as the spelling of restaurateur (instead of a "restauranteur"), the proper pronunciation of prix fix ("pree feeks") and a slew of mnemonic devices to help amateur grammarians keep ifs, ands and buts in check. It's these small digressions that make the book so readable, even for those with a deep-seated hatred for grammatical do-goodery. O'Conner gleefully eviscerates poor sentence construction and dangling participles, soothes verb tension and debunks the frequently intimidating semicolon with finesse. Tempered with a heavy dose of wit (reaching its nadir in her chapter on clichés), O'Conner's lively treatise is as vital as a dictionary for those who wish to be taken seriously in speech, in print or on Facebook.

About the Author

Patricia T. O'Conner, a former editor at the New York Times Book Review, has written for many magazines and newspapers. She is the author of two other books on language and writing, Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About Writing and You Send Me: Getting It Right When You Write Online.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 265 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; Enlarged 3rd edition (September 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594488908
• ISBN-13: 978-1594488900
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 1.1 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Education & Reference > Words, Language & Grammar > Speech

More About the Author

Patricia T. O'Conner, a former editor at The New York Times Book Review, has written five books about the English language--the bestselling Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English; Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language (with Stewart Kellerman); Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About Writing; Woe Is I Jr.: The Younger Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English; and You Send Me: Getting It Right When You Write Online (with Stewart Kellerman).

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Useful and fun October 1, 2010

By Arsen Azizyan

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an essential handbook for any grammar Nazi. Prepare to have many persistent doubts dispelled and nagging questions settled - not only about grammar and spelling, but also pronunciation (including that of the word "pronunciation"). This book will help you feel even more annoyingly superior to the uneducated unfortunates around you.

What's more, the sample sentences in the book are almost worth the price by themselves. "A gradual crescendo in the percussion section reached a climax that woke the audience." "When he's not fighting crime, Bruce dresses like a normal adult."

These days, as our entire nation has forgotten the use of the apostrophe, everyone could use at least one grammar book on their shelves, and I can't think of a clearer and friendlier one than this.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun way to learn grammar May 29, 2010

By M. Autry

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

It is hard to believe that a college professor would choose, for a text book, a book that is this much fun to read. I am taking a ministry of writing class in divinity school and we are using this book as a grammar review. I have already learned some "rules" that I don't remember learning in my Engilish classes years ago. O'Conner makes the "rules" easy to remember.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Guide to Those Pesky Grammar Issues October 31, 2010

By k8inut

Format:Hardcover

This is a very user-friendly guide to many common grammar issues that is easy to read and doesn't take itself too seriously. As the chapter titles (listed below) show, the author is trying to make a fairly dry subject area more interesting.

The chapters are as follows:

Therapy for Pronoun Anxiety
Blunders with Numbers
The Possessives and the Possessed
Putting Verbs in Their Place
Words on the Endangered List
How to Be Letter Perfect
Talking Points on Pronunciation
The Joy of Punctuation
The Complete Dangler - A Fish out of Water
Do Cliches Deserve to Die?
Let Bygone Rules Be Gone
How to Write What You Mean

The author uses a lot of examples to show how to properly remedy the issues that are addressed in the book, and the examples are good illustrations of the issue. It makes a good reference to review common grammar issues. It would also make a great guide for anyone who wants to learn to be more gramatically correct.