Revising Prose (4th Edition) (Paperback)

by Richard Lanham (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
As its title implies, this book deals with revising, not with original composition. Stressing the importance of the single sentence, The Paramedic Method of revision provides an easily learned method of revision to combat the obscurities of meaning that plague The Official Style, and demonstrates how to revise this stilted, dense prose into plain English. This book has been used with success wherever extensive writing is required, and also at every level of higher education. Addresses the specific stylistic patterns that characterize most bad writing and gives an eight-step revision method called The Paramedic Method to break those patterns and improve writing. Helps with writing tasks in business, government, and the university, where The Official Style is rampant, and provides an indispensable guide to revising in every writing context. For anyone interested in revising, specifically at the sentence level.

From the Back Cover
As its title implies, this book deals with revising, not with original composition. Stressing the importance of the single sentence, The Paramedic Method of revision provides an easily learned method of revision to combat the obscurities of meaning that plague The Official Style, and demonstrates how to revise this stilted, dense prose into plain English. This book has been used with success wherever extensive writing is required, and also at every level of higher education.

Addresses the specific stylistic patterns that characterize most bad writing and gives an eight-step revision method called The Paramedic Method to break those patterns and improve writing. Helps with writing tasks in business, government, and the university, where The Official Style is rampant, and provides an indispensable guide to revising in every writing context.

For anyone interested in revising, specifically at the sentence level.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 131 pages
• Publisher: Longman; 4 edition (July 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0205309453
• ISBN-13: 978-0205309450
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #540,515 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book about writing, January 9, 2003

By A Customer

I first read this book in 1980 as a graduate student and it changed the way I write. I still remember the shock I felt then at learning that academic writing did not have to be tedious, wordy and stuffy. Everybody to whom I've given this book (back before it became so expensive)has also found that it radically changed their writing for the better.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic book to improve your nonfiction prose writing, February 16, 2000

By	Evans Thompson (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Take a deep breath, ignore the hefty price tag, and click Add to Cart. Lanham does a fantastic job providing simple techniques that allow anyone from the the casual writer to the technical writer streamline their prose to create clearer and more powerful sentences, paragraphs, and documents. As an English major, this book was by far the most helpful book I read to improve my writing.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it, read it, become a better writer, March 3, 2003

By	L. Newman (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book teaches you to reanimate dead writing, restoring action and personality to it, one sentence at a time. Starting from analysis and reconstruction using small number of rules, progressing to the philosophical question of why you should revise prose, this book remains interesting after multiple readings. I can't speak hightly enough of it. A true eye opener.