Customer Reviews

Write Right!: A Desktop Digest of Punctuation, Grammar, and Style

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I use it as as an authority on grammar, punctuation, and style. This wire-bound, mid-size reference is a gem. It contains almost everything--if not everything--I have ever had to look up. It is concise, making it an easy read. Despite its being concise, Jan Venolia gives thorough, comprehendable explanations of the way words are supposed to be put together.

This book exemplifies its title.

I'm just beginning to teach a freshman writing course at a local college for the first time. Although I have a master's degree in English, I should confess that I've used grammar by "feel." That is to say, I didn't know the rules, but I have read a lot, and I just wrote by instinct. I'm not defending this approach, just explaining!

So now I'm faced with the necessity of teaching grammar to my freshmen students. Alas! After a couple of embarrassing and week lectures, I went to the bookstore to get help. I spent about four hours looking for grammar books I could stand to read myself, and that would help me learn enough to teach my students. Most of the books were very technical and overly-detailed for me, and surely for my students as well. However, I found this book, along with a couple of others that were truly a relief in their clarity, fun approach, and pared down lessons.

So, for anyone else who's just starting out studying grammar, I highly recommend this book. It's simple, relevant, understandable, and whimsical. It's not scary, too technical, and too much information. I don't think you'll be disappointed, unless you really WANT to learn every detail.

Also, the other books I found that were helpful were Grammar for Smart People by Barry Tarshis, and The Everything Grammar and Style Book by Susan Thurman. There's another one called Woe is I that I didn't buy but am thinking about doing so. All of these even look fun, so I brought them in to show my students. I thought perhaps if they saw that grammar books don't have to be boring, boring, and more boring, they might someday possibly maybe consider thinking about buying one of them.

As an author and a publisher, I find this book an essential reference. I keep it next to my dictionary, within easy reach. (The earlier editions) have been my constant companion for over 20 years. Jan Venolia makes the rules for punctuation, grammar and style easy to find and easy to understand. Her examples in the form of historical quotations make the rules comprehensible. This fascinating book will be a constant reference for every author, publisher, and bibliophile. And you can't beat the price. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com

I absolutely detest English grammar. Having said that, be forewarned I am Deaf...that explains everything. I had to take English grammar in different formats in 3 classes. Third time around I got smart and started looking for some other help then the recommended textbooks. This book I found on my own, and this is the book on the shelf above my head when I am writing. It is small, concise, helps with things that spell and grammar checks on software won't or can't do. It is inexpensive, so this is the one I recommend to friends and students. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

The nature of my job has been such that I'm only occasionally tasked with writing a business letter or report, which is to say that I don't write business correspondence often enough to feel entirely confident of my output. Also, I correspond regularly with a couple of friends who are published authors, and golly, I sure hate to come across like a rube. I've found this book to be a real lifesaver at such times, and no doubt it's saved me from outright embarrassment more than once.

While there are more expansive books on grammer and style out there, I suspect that this book, for most folks, will cover 99% of such questions likely to arise in composing business letters, personal correspondence, and creative works. Concise, well-organized, and palatable, this compact volume stays in my brief case everywhere I go, and has often shaved points off of my blood pressure during those numerous times when I thought I knew how to do it right, but just wasn't sure. (One minor complaint: earlier editions were available in spiral-bound versions; I miss that feature.)

I purchased this book several years ago, but had misplaced it. I recently purchased it again because it is such a useful reference tool and I found myself time and again wishing that I could pull it out of my desk drawer. I am an attorney and one's ability to write properly elevates his or her credibility with other attorneys, clients, and judges. This book is easy to use so that time is never wasted looking up information. The explanations and examples are very straight forward so that most of the time I am able to recall the examples and don't have to look up the information again. I also bought a copy for home for my kids to use since undoubtedly they will soon realize that they have to "unlearn" their poor habits picked up while text messaging.

I have both, Write Right! and Rewrite Right! in my essential writer's bookshelf, and use both often.

I love Jan Venolia's approach, info and style, and Lord knows we can nearly all use some help now and then with those pesky sentence fragments, spellings, and all the other horrors we confront daily in our quest to be not only read, but understood and enjoyed.

I've used Jan's sane advice in crafting both my books.

This is a simple, direct, concise review of basic grammar, indispensible for anyone with a short memory and a strong desire to write right. I purchased several copies so that I could give each member on my staff a copy for their desk with the instructions to read it and use it. It will be helpful to improve anyone's writing abilities. The contents are well organized and the examples are very helpful. This book is so good I sometimes use it for bedtime reading when I am preparing to write a special article so that I can do better.

Where this book differs from many style manuals is in its light-hearted approach. It features cartoons, quips, ambiguously worded phrases, and clever quotes to reinforce the many valid pointers contained within its pages.

It will not make a successful writer out of an untalented illiterate, (no resource will), but most readers will find a few tips to improve their writing quality. Whether looking for clarification on a particularly sticky dilemma or just in the mood for an intelligent chuckle, Jan Venolia's slim reference warrants a skim.

I keep this book on my desk for easy reference. Many times people have questions that can be found here in a jiffy. The basics are usually what trip people up. The book contains proper usage of often times miss-used words. Like "further and farther", "lie and lay" as well as verb tense and agreement. I recommend it for anyone who wants to use good grammer.