The Elements of Style

No E.B. White Section

This book DOES NOT include the addendum by E.B. White, "An Approach to Style," even though the description includes it in the contents listing.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

A good book marred by the foreword?

A quick glance at the foreword makes me wonder if they should have left the 'little book' alone after the third edition. Here are a few gems from the foreword -- 2nd para: 'Less frequent practitioners - the job applicant; the business executive .. ; the high school senior .. ; the graduate-school student .. ; the writer ..' ---> Rule 2. In a series of three or more terms .., use a comma after each term except the last. -- 3rd para: 'It was this recurring question, put to himself, that must have inspired White to revive and add to a textbook by an English professor of his, Will Strunk Jr., that he had first read in college, and to get it published.' ---> Rule 20. Keep related words together. -- 3rd para: 'The result, this quiet book ..' ---> Will Strunk's a quiet book? Omit needless words! Use the active voice! ..

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Perfect!

I am an english major at my college, and also a grammar nut, so it was more than appropriate that my husband purchased this updated edition for me as a Christmas gift. I love it! I wish that my professor's had assigned this text in English 101. I now recommend this to the students that I tutor in the Writing Lab. The explantions are graceful and so understandable. It makes grammar more approachable. I highly recommend this book. The updated edition is beautiful and actually really funny in the way it is organized. The illustrations are appropriate and helpful.

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Does not include the Approach to Style section

I should have had a closer look at the contents. It's a handy guide to have with you always. I was hoping to replace my paperback copy but that will remain on my bookshelf. This is only Strunk's section. The original basic "little book". It is still a very useful guide.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Amazing!

The wondrous illustrations add so much, er, COLOR to the already colorful text. White's estate was right: nobody else but Ms. Kalman could be trusted to illustrate this perenially useful tome. Now it is perenially gorgeous too!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

The Elements of Incomplete

I was disappointed with the Strunk & White text. I found the reference to be incomplete. Too many rules were not completely illustrated and the entire concept of punctuating dialogue was not included. There is a reason why the book is so slight comprising less than 100 pages--material is missing. I recommend you purchase a different book if you want guidance on punctuation and grammar. Strunk & White are living on a name garnered in past when their work was a valid reference.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

bad scan

The Elements of Style is a "must" for writers. It is informative, highly readable, and witty.
This scan is a major disappointment. Entire words and lines are missing, and there are misspellings galore. All this adds up to frustration and confusion. Explore paid options, or buy the book -- as a book.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

What Edition is this?

This book was originally published a gazillion years ago. B&N needs to provide complete publication information, including such really important things as the Edition number. Publication date does not really tell one anything as it could be a reprinting or the date a really old book was published as an eBook.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Best grammar book available

I am a writing teacher, and I have used several different grammar books. The Elements of Style is the easiest book to use in a writing class for both teachers and students alike. It is short and concise - so much so that students are not intimidated by what they are learning. Many of my students have actually enjoyed reading the book, as it is both informational and witty. I have heard many students say, "I wish I had this book earlier in my writing career." I second that!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

It's A Classic

The Elements of Style is a classic. Period. It is used around the US by professionals, and English Lit. educators. I bought mine after seeing so many grammar experts carrying it around. I am not a grammar expert, but am hoping to improve.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

one of the best

The Elements of Style is one of the most important books that I own. Although I'm out of college, I refer to it again and again. Even if I'm not correcting grammar or punctuation, I'll still open the book to see what beautiful writing looks like. The writing is so darn clear that I often joke, 'If God wanted someone to teach Jesus how to write, God would have hired Strunk and White.' The last chapter deals with writing and how to craft one's own voice. This is valuable for everyone, and although Elements isn't a 'how to' book on fiction writing, I've found S&W's advice to be sound while working on novels and short stories. Keep this book in your coat pocket. Study it at red lights or on the subway. This book is timeless.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Idiosyncratic and Incorrect Advice They Can't Follow Themselves

This book's reputation never ceases to amaze me. The 'rules' it advocates are nothing more than style advice, having little to do with grammar or syntax, and are often trite and more often meaningless. 'Omit needless words!' No help as to what they are. 'Write with nouns and verbs, not adjectives and adverbs!' Like, say, 'needless'? And so on... a quick glance at the writings of EB White shows that he uses as many adjectives and adverbs as anyone else- to wonderful effect, I may add, he's a fine writer-, that he uses relative restrictive which (which he says is forbidden), and in many other ways doesn't follow his own advice. And why should he? It's not good advice. It's a series of prejudices from nearly a century ago, and has little to do with good writing by anyone.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

greta book - awful scan

I know the book and is great, but this B&N scans are awful. better get it somewhere else

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Re: Anonymous reviewer

"I wish that my professor's had assigned this text in English 101."

As do I, considering that even after reading the book, you still don't know the difference between plural and possessive!! If this isn't the very definition of irony, I don't know what is.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

over the head of the everyday student

Typical of most books in this vein, whether grammar or style, Strunk and White uses language that assumes the reader is aware of all the rules of writing. Unless you are an English or Journalism major, this book will not help you. It will confuse you because the advice given lacks clear explanations of 'how' and 'why.'

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

A Classic

Every writer needs this book in their hip pocket or Nook.

Don't get the free version. Much better

Really just the basics of puntuation and writing structure. I've already learned something I mess up all the time... or at least I suspect that I do. Very easy to understand, doesn't have the typos that the project gutenberg version has, and you don't need the more modern examples from the 2011 version. Punctuation doesn't change whether you're talking about the beetles or vaudeville. This version says it's 2010, so if there were any changes last year theres probably no one following them yet.

One of the Easiest Best Grammar/Writing Books

I teach high school English. I recommend this book to all students struggling with grammar. It is compact, well-organized, and very thorough. Though part one is mostly grammar the other parts will help aid writers. I even have created a poster from one of the tips presented in the book. "Avoid the elaborate,t he pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be temped by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able." There are tons of gems just like this one.

Recommended for any writing

I am a technical writer by trade but this book is indispensable for anyone doing any type of formal writing. Students will be able to carry it with them into the professional realm - teaching to write succinctly is important to any writing. Not a compelling mystery novel, just a very useful tool for writing - I bought this for a Chinese national who wanted to improved her writing in English.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Must for Writers

Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style" has for years been a go-to book for writers of all kinds. It covers most of the grammatical and punctuation issues that you may have learned in school, but have long since forgotten, or perhaps those issues that you never learned in the first place.
This is an excellent resource for graduating seniors who are either faced with writing papers in college, or faced with navigating a world that increasingly knows little grammar or punctuation that don't fit in a "tweet".
Writing is one of our last bastions of "civilization", and we need to nurture it. "The Elements of Style" will go a long way toward educating you, or your gift receiver, in the ways of the written word.