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

Patricia T. O'Conner (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)


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Kindle Edition --  
Hardcover $15.61  
Hardcover, Bargain Price, September 17, 2009 --  
Paperback $9.32  

Book Description

September 17, 2009 1594488908 Enlarged 3rd
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."

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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, is a popular author, radio commentator, and blogger. She has written four other books on language and writing: Woe Is I Jr., Words Fail Me, and, with Stewart Kellerman, You Send Me and Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 265 pages
  • Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover; Enlarged 3rd edition (September 17, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1594488908
  • ASIN: B0040RMEQC
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #649,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Useful and fun October 1, 2010
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.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
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.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Woe is I - I LOVE IT!!
I know that I should probably refrain from writing a review of a book before I've even gotten beyond the 2nd chapter, but I'm really enjoying her style, her humor, and the examples... Read more
Published 12 days ago by Rick Theis
Grammar
Super book, glad I purchased it. It will definitely come in handy as a resource when writing.Good examples and easy to locate necessary information in this book.
Published 2 months ago by Samantha English
Perfect! Just what I needed!
While I can identify the correct sentence in a multiple choice selection, I can't tell you why it is correct. That tends to make writing somewhat problematic at times. Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. J. Campbell
Funny.
Easy and fun book covering a boring subject. Author has taken time to use analogies, metaphors, etc. to help reader understand a less than gripping subject.
Published 5 months ago by David H. Martin
Comprehensive and easy to read
"Woe is I" touches all the important bases in English grammar, and does so in a light-hearted and entertaining way. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Ross Canning
Reassuring
After coming across so many errors in books, it is reassuring to find that what I learned many years ago is still considered correct. Read more
Published 8 months ago by FRILLS
Comma Sutra and More
I teach writing at a local college. And this is just the most wonderful "grammar book" I have ever experienced. Read more
Published 9 months ago by C. E. Selby
This is a must have reference!
i bought this book originally to read on the kindle, but it is such an invaluable reference, I need it in book form to highlight and dog ear and sticky note it. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Teresa
Love/hate relationship with grammar: a 69 word review
If you have a love hate relationship with grammar is may soon all be love. What a brilliant playful read, with memorable examples of "how" to right write, and write rites. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Stephen Pellerine
Truly geared to the 'grammarphobe'
As part of a plan to start an online copy-editing service, I've been acquiring books like this one to complement the titles I already own. Read more
Published 12 months ago by David Nickell
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