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If they had to state a preference, surely all individuals who ever had occasion to write (be it a memo, love letter, quick e-mail, college essay, or novel) would opt for using appropriate, grammatically correct English. The problem isn't in the intent, it's in the availability and accessibility of clear, understandable answers. Most writers (professional and amateur) get by on what
sounds right, their memory of compound predicates and serial commas being a little fuzzy. They might turn to a dictionary or even a thesaurus (or, more likely, depend on the convenience of the computer spell-checker and thesaurus functions), but grammar books are rarely cracked outside of high school English classes.
But what if there were a book that explained the rules of grammar and usage and that was precise yet easy to understand? A book that was useful, and didn't make you feel like a dunce for not knowing where to put the period when you use quotation marks? A Dictionary of Modern American Usage, written by Bryan Garner and published by Oxford University Press, could be the start of a new movement, a brave new world in which people cheerfully polish their prose, where participles rarely dangle and "less" was not substituted incorrectly for "fewer." Garner, a lawyer and lexicographer, has created a scholarly and readable masterpiece. He clarifies the dos and don'ts of commas and quotation marks, explains why it's not so awful to end sentences with prepositions, and tackles common confusions, such as lay and lie, flaunt and flout, and assure, insure, and ensure. Erudite and dryly witty, spectacularly organized and up to date, and attentive to both basic usage and advanced nuances, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage is destined to become the reference of choice for students, scribes, editors, executives, and language devotees. --Stephanie Gold
Review
"Containing roughly 7000 main entries and many cross references, the dictionry offers intelligent, sensible, readable advice concerning usage demons involving problems of grammar, spelling, homonyms, variants, cliches, skunked words, redundancies, phrasal adjectives and verbs, and more. Garner's long entries on split infinitives and when to us that or which are worth the price of the book. More 5500 illustrative quotations buttress and clarify the author's opinions, and an appended time line listing hundreds of usage guides from 1786 to date is another plus... Garner is a prescriptivist in the common-sense tradition of Fowler. His new dictionary, meant to be an equivalent of Fowler's famous work, deserves a place in every libaray of substance."--Library Journal
"A Dictionary of Modern American Usage is a worthwhile supplement for guidance on terms that have troubled editors and writers..."--Copy Editor
"The prose in this work is readable, interesting, witty, and lively...it will be very helpful for modern writers who desire to write correctly but unpretentiously. This resource is highly recommended for public and academic libraries."--Booklist
"The next time your syntax needs a sextant, reach for A Dictionary of Modern American Usage.... It contains the most succinct and sensible advice on American usage to come down the pike in a long while.... Unlike most usage guides, this one includes and extensive adn ascellent bibliography. It is also commendably current.... Garner's method is scrupulous and helpful to the reader."--The San Diego Union-Tribune
"700 pages of authoritative guidance on hundreds of questions of grammar and usage.... The `brilliancies' in Garner's entries are a joy to peruse."--Herald, Columbia, SC
"More consistently entertaining and approachable than the more formal Merriam Webster adn New Fowler's. Garner also treads a little more lightly with the formal terminology of grammar."--The Baltimore Sun
"Garner knows his stuff, and he's one of the least-stuffy grammarians around. His Dictionary of Modern American Usage is a superlative book." --Arizona Republic
"The prose in this work is readable, interesting, witty, and lively. It will be very helpful for modern writers who desire to write correctly but unpretentiously. This resource is highly recommended." --Booklist
"Garner's new dictionary is among the best of its kind. As an American equivalent of Fowler's famous work (compare the titles), it deserves a place in every library of substance." --Library Journal
"Excellent. Garner extends the reach of the prescriptive Fowler and the descriptive Merriam-Webster." --William Safire, The New York Times
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