Elements of Style, The Hardcover – 8 Oct. 1999

Negative reviewers of this book focus on the questions of which edition it is and whether there is a better edition out there which they should have ordered in stead. Some have also suggested that the book is full of mistakes. Perhaps we have been reading different books. Page for page this has to be the best book on writing that I have read, so packed is it with useful ideas and information. I had imagined that it would be so based on American English that it would be less useful and even jarring to the British reader, but I did not find this to be so. Although style is related to taste and will vary from one writer to another, and although rules may sometimes be broken to good effect, I'm sure that any writer could sharpen his or her style by studying this book and applying its rules and 'reminders'. I will certainly be dipping into it from time to time. The one problem that I do have right now is that, having read the book, I can spot several errors of style in this review and I feel rather guilty about not taking the trouble to correct them.

I bought this to brush up on some essential grammer after having it recommended by Stephen King in his book "On Writing".Naturally, it is a work of non-fiction (and about grammar no less!) So you won't find yourself on the edge of your seat or anything as you read it. But you will find it softly engaging and interesting and find yourself pulled into the mindset of those people who take grammar a good deal more seriously than most of us.Particularly helpful is the fact that each recommendation comes with examples, so that you can see in practice what he is actually talking about, and that each part is not overly long, so you don't feel the need to reach for the metaphorical gun to put yourself out of your misery!If you set aside the contents, introduction and appendix then this book is only 85 pages long, which I actually saw as a good thing. No doubt there are books on grammar that can quite happily be used as tables in their own right, but I wonder how many normal people actually read them?It's a bit like Stephen Hawking's "Brief History of Time" in that owning a copy of such tomes doesn't automatically mean you have read them!This one I have read. I honestly don't know if it improved my grammar much (oh ok I do...It didn't! I think you would need to make more than a casual study of this to really improve much). But the door is at least slightly ajar to seeing the light and perhaps, some day, also marveling at the difference between a conjunctive pronoun and a restrictive adverb (something which I have personally never heard of, but which I feel happy to allow some Grammar God to now lay claim too).Overall, a book that is well worth your time.

There is nothing to dislike in this book.

A surprisingly entertaining as well as useful little book. Good writing is about "plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity", it says. Writers who seek to follow trends are "as good as dead", it warns. And the queasy are advised to speak of feeling "nauseated" not "nauseous" - unless they're sure they "have that effect on others". A lot of good advice has been published by writers over the years, Mark Twain, George Orwell and Elmore Leonard among them. For me, this paragraph from The Elements of Style is as good as any of it: "Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell."

Incredibly useful little book for anyone wanting to improve his/hers English writing. Concise and to the point, this book will help you make sense of your current knowledge and provide sound advice on just about anything that you may encounter in English writing.Although the book can be read in one or two sittings, try reading a chunk at a time and observe what you learned in actual writings from other sources or even the book itself.Only thing I could complain about is that my hardcover copy came wrapped with not so usable dust cover and now I am left with a rather dull looking book. If you are looking for a nice looking hardback, you should probably stay away from this edition, but then again, you should also try reading the book instead of looking at its covers!

Since studying at university and graduating, I have kept this book in arms reach on my work desk since! I’m not the best with grammar, and it’s so reassuring to be able to just quickly check something over if your unsure, particularly when writing papers or minutes in a professional capacity.It’s also really small and light, so could be kept in a handbag at all times! I think anyone studying in the English language should have a copy of this, from as young as possible, so they have the confidence to use grammar correctly, and to be able to define their writing style.

This is a fantastic guide to the rules of grammar and isn't overly long so it's also easy to flick through to find what you need. Unfortunately a few pages in mine were blank so I'm going to have to buy a new copy. Unfortunately I didn't get around to reading it in time to return it.

One of the all-time 'how-to' classics. If you write anything, from notes to novels, this book will help you and improve the way you write. It's easy to follow and provides examples along with the rules to provide context. I use it every time I write, and I've been a journalist, poet, fiction writer and essayist for thirty years. Stephen King uses it too and recommendations don't come much higher than that. It emphasises clarity, though not at the expense of style, has an excellent guide to correct punctuation and should be on any writer's bookshelf.

Very informative. Great read!

O livro tem me ajudado muito na comunicação com as diversas áreas da empresa e nos relatórios que elaboro para a matriz nos EUA. Tem boas dicas de comunicação que servem para qualquer idioma.

Timeless, excellent guide to writing with economy and style. Highly reccomended.

Sehr zu empfehlen. Kurz, knapp und wertvoll.

This classic style manuscript is only a few dollars but is worth its weight in gold. Why is that? Because it teaches you how to use words to form proper sentences. The result is writing that communicates a clear, robust and precise message. Good writing never leaves the reader bewildered. Instead, good writing arouses and holds the reader’s attention; it calls up mental pictures whose size exceeds the writing itself. Accordingly, Elements of Style equips the writer with greater technical skill and is overflowing with best practices. It also benefits your reader, who will no longer flounder in the sea of ambiguity. After reading this book, I now realize how bankrupt modern writing is; this includes my own writing.Elements has five parts: (I) Elementary Rules of Usage (II) Elementary Principles of Compositions (III) A Few Matters of Form (IV) Misused Words and Expressions (V) An Approach to Style. Parts I-IV deal with the science of writing. Part V deals with the art of writing. It is in parts I and II that you will find the famous “22 Rules.” These commandments provide timeless lessons such as (#16) “Use definite, specific, concrete language” and (#17) “Omit needless words.” Under each heading, the author gives a few examples of sentences that can be improved by application of the rule along with a one-page summary.As a bonus, the author has a style of writing that is sharp and witty. This creates a read that is both informative and entertaining. Overall, this small book can be finished quickly, but you will likely return to mine nuggets of literary wisdom many times. For any writer, this book is the type that you buy and keep in a permanent spot in your library.