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Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
 
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Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) (Paperback)

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4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Telling me to 'Be clear,' " writes Joseph M. Williams in Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, "is like telling me to 'Hit the ball squarely.' I know that. What I don't know is how to do it." If you are ever going to know how to write clearly, it will be after reading Williams' book, which is a rigorous examination of--and lesson in--the elements of fine writing. With any luck, your clear writing will turn graceful, as well. Though most of us, says Williams, would be happy just to write "clear, coherent, and appropriately emphatic prose," he is not content to teach us just that. He also attempts, by way of example, to determine what constitutes elegant writing.

Despite the proliferation of books in this genre, rarely does one feel so confident in one's instructor. Williams is meticulous and exacting, yet never pedantic. Though he agrees with most of his grammarian colleagues that, generally speaking, the active voice is better than the passive or that the ordinary word is preferable to the fancy, Williams is also quick to assert that there's no sense learning a rule "if all we can do is obey it." And he is most emphatic about the absurdity of prescriptions concerning usage (such as, "Never begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction"). Such rules, he says, "are 'violated' so consistently that, unless we are ready to indict for bad grammar just about every serious writer of modern English, we have to reject as misinformed anyone who would attempt to enforce them." --Jane Steinberg

From Library Journal

There is certainly no shortage of handbooks on writing, many of them packed with theory, description, rules, and perhaps some examples of good writing. What most lack is directions for improving bad writing--precisely what is offered by Williams ( Origins of the English Language , LJ 8/75). He first explains what constitutes poor writing and then presents and illustrates principles that will help writers produce sentences, paragraphs, and documents that clearly and directly communicate meaning to readers. Williams focuses on achieving gracefulness without sacrificing clarity. His delineation of the needs and problems of reader and writer is enlightening and helpful. Style is evidence that the author's approach works; it embodies the principles of clarity and grace it espouses. Highly recommended.
- Craig W. Beard, Harding Univ. Lib., Searcy, Ark.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 226 pages
  • Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (June 15, 1995)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0226899152
  • ISBN-13: 978-0226899152
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #53,431 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Joseph M. Williams
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Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
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Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace (9th Edition)
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Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace (9th Edition) 4.3 out of 5 stars (56)
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Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (3rd Edition)
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Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (3rd Edition) 4.4 out of 5 stars (5)
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Customer Reviews

29 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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92 of 94 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book on Writing English..., November 27, 1999
Most books on how to write better English are pretty near to useless. Many of them scare you into worrying that you might use "which" when you should use "that" (never mind that an extra "which" never caused any reader the smallest bit of confusion). Others demand that you strive for "clarity" or "brevity" or "coherence"--but then somehow never provide any useful advice on just how, exactly, to do so.

Joseph Williams's Style: Toward Clarity and Grace is an exception. It is the only truly useful book on English prose style that I have ever found. Even Strunk and White cannot compete with the quality of the advice that Williams gives. Perhaps more important, the advice that Williams gives can be used. As Williams puts it, his aim is to go "beyond platitudes." Advice like "'Be clear' is like telling me to 'Hit the ball squarely.' I know that. What I don't know is how to do it." Williams tells us how to do it.

Williams's advice is particularly useful because it is reader based. Most books on style are rule-based: follow these rules and you will be a good writer. Williams recognizes that clear writing is writing that makes the reader feel clear about what he or she is reading. This difference in orientation makes Williams's advice much more profound: he has a theory of why the rules are what they are (and what to do when the rules conflict) that books that focus on rules alone lack.

His advice starts at the level of the sentence. Williams believes that readers find sentences easy to read and understand when the logic of the thought follows the logic of the sentence: the subjects of sentences should be the actors, and the verbs of the sentence should be the crucial actions. The beginning of a sentence should look back and connect the reader with the ideas that have been mentioned before. The end of the sentence should look forward, and is the place to put new ideas and new information.

His advice continues at the level of the paragraph. The sentences that make up a paragraph should have consistent topics. New topics and new themes should be found at the end of a paragraph's introductory sentence (or sentences). Readers will find a paragraph to be coherent if it has one single articulate summary sentence, which is almost always found either at the end of the paragraph or as the last of the paragraph's introductory sentences.

His advice concludes with four chapters on being concise, on figuring out the appropriate length, on being elegant, and on using constructions that do not jar the reader. I think that these last four chapters are less successful than the other chapters of the book. They contain much sound advice. But the argument of the book becomes more diffuse. The first six chapters present and illustrate overarching organizing principles for achieving clarity, coherence, and cohesion. The last four chapters present long lists of things to try to do. (However, the fangs-bared attack on "pop grammarians" found in the last chapter is fun to read.)

So, gentle reader, if you want to become a better writer of English, go buy and work through this book. I, at least, have never found a better.

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50 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars You're Better Off if You Buy - Ten Lessons, May 2, 1999
By P. O'Rourke "Patrick T. O'Rourke" (Highlands Ranch, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
By itself, this book is helpful. But its not nearly as helpful as Williams other book "Style - Ten Lessons Towards Clarity & Grace," which is also available through Amazon.com. This version of Style simply presents Williams' theories about writing, but it does not provide the reader with the "workbook" drills that are contained in "Ten Lessons." A reader will only understand the value of Williams' techniques after he's had a chance to apply them. I recommend this book without reservation, but believe that most readers will benefit more from the "Ten Lessons" version.
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The book my students have learned the most from., January 21, 2001
By Grumpy (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews
I'm an economics professor who started teaching writing courses as a spare time activity when I discovered that our English faculty was doing such a poor job of it.

My writing class is directed at college undergrads and grad students. I tried a number of books, but settled on Williams and have been using it since the 2nd edition. I find that students can make an enormous improvement in their writing in just ten weeks.

If your goal is to learn the kind of writing that will help you explain a process, change someone's mind, or write the winning proposal, Williams is your man. Don't read it all in one session, and you must actually do the exercises.

Try a chapter a week. It works.

Charles Lave, University of California, Irvine

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars I write this review to try to protect you from buying this book
This guy has a beef with Strunk and White. He writes like an annal retentive academic whose gone over too many Phd theses. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Adam J. Braus

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I was looking for to improve my writing
I want my writing to be clear, cohesive, coherent, concise and elegant. This book is showing me how.
Published 13 months ago by Richard Casto

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful
Although a little hard to read at first, it definitely gets to the point about good writing. A great read for those who need help writing!
Published 15 months ago by Judith L. Hoyt

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Have for Academic Writers
For students, scholars, or everyday writers, this is a must-have book. This is a great book for learning how to hone your writing skills to get thoughts on the paper in a way that... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Jeff DeSurra

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource
In the book, Style: Toward Clarity and Grace, authors Joseph M. Williams and Gregory C. Colomb provide an effective teaching manual to assist novice writers in turning elementary... Read more
Published on December 7, 2007 by William Sloos

4.0 out of 5 stars An important book for professional writers and academia
This book covers not the basic grammar issue, but how to make your passage / paragraph / and in general writing flow. Read more
Published on September 3, 2007 by AleFu

5.0 out of 5 stars This book taught me how to write
Most of my colleagues think I am a good writer. Most of what I know about writing well I learned from this book. Read more
Published on August 1, 2007 by J. Schimel

5.0 out of 5 stars Why is this concept not taught in schools?
I know I'm a bad writer and have been for some time. I always prefered math and science in school to arts and language. Read more
Published on September 11, 2006 by mmonaco27

2.0 out of 5 stars Book lacks style, clarity and grace
This is a book about clear writing. Unfortunately, the significant thing that is missing in the book is the very clarity it seeks to promote. Read more
Published on February 18, 2006 by Ravi Kannan

5.0 out of 5 stars Scientific Approach
Of the many books on style that I have read, this is the first that draws on research in cognitive psychology to buttress its recommendations. Read more
Published on October 8, 2005 by B. Rossen

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