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A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation [NOOK Book]
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"Takes the straitjacket off punctuation....Lukeman's wit and insight make this an instant classic."—M. J. Rose
The first practical and accessible guide to the art of punctuation for creative writers. Punctuation reveals the writer: haphazard commas, for example, reveal haphazard thinking; clear, lucid breaks reveal clear, lucid thinking. Punctuation can be used to teach the writer how to think and how to write. This short, practical book shows authors the benefits that can be reaped from mastering punctuation: the art of style, sentence length, meaning, and economy of words. There are full-length chapters devoted to the period, the comma, the semicolon, the colon, quotation marks, the dash and parentheses, the paragraph and section break, and a cumulative chapter on integrating them all into "The Symphony of Punctuation." Filled with exercises and examples from literary masters (Why did Poe and Melville rely on the semicolon? Why did Hemingway embrace the period?), A Dash of Style is interactive, highly engaging, and a necessity for creative writers as well as for anyone looking to make punctuation their friend instead of their mysterious foe.
C_J_SINGH
Posted October 30, 2008
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Reviewed by C J Singh (Berkeley, California)
This compact new book on punctuation uniquely complements standard college writing guides like THE BEDFORD HANDBOOK, now in its seventh edition, the all-time bestselling college textbook. The Bedford as well as several other standard college handbboks I have used in my teaching typically cite punctuation examples mostly from nonfiction works.
This book's uniqueness arises from its approach: illustrating punctuation "rules" with examples drawn mostly from literary works. Moreover, Lukeman points out how literary masters flout "rules" to create special effects. Literary masters cited include like Mark Twain, William Faulkner, and Joyce Carol Oates.
Excellent book for fiction writers.
C J Singh
Anonymous
Posted January 19, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
"Takes the straitjacket off punctuation....Lukeman's wit and insight make this an instant classic."—M. J. Rose
The first practical and accessible guide to the art of punctuation for creative writers. Punctuation reveals the writer: haphazard commas, for example, reveal haphazard thinking; clear, lucid breaks reveal clear, lucid thinking. Punctuation can be used to teach the writer how to think and how to write. This short, practical book shows authors the benefits that can be reaped from mastering punctuation: the art of style, sentence length, meaning, and economy of words. There are full-length chapters devoted to the period, the comma, the semicolon, the colon, quotation marks, the ...