Yvonne Zipp
…for those who "belong to the tribe of sentence watchers," the fun comes from the examples cited throughout. John Updike, Jane Austen, Elmore Leonard, Herman Melville and Ernest Hemingway are among the greats quoted…
—The Washington Post
From the Publisher
Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style.” — Financial Times
“A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.” — Slate
“[Fish] shares his connoisseurship of the elegant sentence.” — The New Yorker
“Stanley Fish just might be America’s most famous professor.” — BookPage
“How to Write a Sentence is a compendium of syntactic gems—light reading for geeks.” — New York magazine
“How to Write a Sentence isn’t merely a prescriptive guide to the craft of writing but a rich and layered exploration of language as an evolving cultural organism. It belongs not on the shelf of your home library but in your brain’s most deep-seated amphibian sensemaking underbelly.” — Maria Popova, Brain Pickings
“[Fish’s] approach is genially experiential—a lifelong reader’s engagement whose amatory enthusiasm is an attempt to overthrow Strunk & White’s infamous insistences on grammar by rote.” — New York Observer
“In this small feast of a book Stanley Fish displays his love of the English sentence. His connoisseurship is broad and deep, his examples are often breathtaking, and his analyses of how the masterpieces achieve their effects are acute and compelling.” — New Republic
“A sentence is, in John Donne’s words, ‘a little world made cunningly,’ writes Fish. He’ll teach you the art.” — People
“This splendid little volume describes how the shape of a sentence controls its meaning.” — Boston Globe
“Like a long periodic sentence, this book rumbles along, gathers steam, shifts gears, and packs a wallop.” — Roy Blount Jr.
“Language lovers will flock to this homage to great writing.” — Booklist
“Fish is a personable and insightful guide with wide-ranging erudition and a lack of pretension.” — National Post
“For both aspiring writer and eager reader, Fish’s insights into sentence construction and care are instructional, even inspirational.” — The Huffington Post
“If you love language you’ll find something interesting, if not fascinating, in [How to Write a Sentence].” — CBSNews.com
“[A] slender but potent volume. Fish, a distinguished law professor and literary theorist, is the anti-Strunk & White.” — The Globe and Mail
“You’d get your money’s worth from the quotations alone…if you give this book the attention it so clearly deserves, you will be well rewarded.” — Washington Times
“The fun comes from the examples cited throughout: John Updike, Jane Austen…all are cited throughout.” — Washington Post
“How to Write a Sentence is the first step on the journey to the Promised Land of good writing.” — Saudi Gazette
“How to Write a Sentence is a must read for aspiring writers and anyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of literature. If extraordinary sentences are like sports plays, Fish is the Vin Scully of great writing.” — Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, authors of "They Say/I Say"
“Coming up with all-or-nothing arguments is simply what Fish does; and, in a sense, one of his most important contributions to the study of literature is that temperament…Whether people like Fish or not, though, they tend to find him fascinating.” — The New Yorker
Slate
A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.”
Booklist
Language lovers will flock to this homage to great writing.”
Boston Globe
This splendid little volume describes how the shape of a sentence controls its meaning.”
Maria Popova
How to Write a Sentence isn’t merely a prescriptive guide to the craft of writing but a rich and layered exploration of language as an evolving cultural organism. It belongs not on the shelf of your home library but in your brain’s most deep-seated amphibian sensemaking underbelly.
New Republic
In this small feast of a book Stanley Fish displays his love of the English sentence. His connoisseurship is broad and deep, his examples are often breathtaking, and his analyses of how the masterpieces achieve their effects are acute and compelling.
New York magazine
How to Write a Sentence is a compendium of syntactic gems—light reading for geeks.
People
A sentence is, in John Donne’s words, ‘a little world made cunningly,’ writes Fish. He’ll teach you the art.
The New Yorker
[Fish] shares his connoisseurship of the elegant sentence.
Financial Times
Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style.
BookPage
Stanley Fish just might be America’s most famous professor.
New York Observer
[Fish’s] approach is genially experiential—a lifelong reader’s engagement whose amatory enthusiasm is an attempt to overthrow Strunk & White’s infamous insistences on grammar by rote.
The Huffington Post
For both aspiring writer and eager reader, Fish’s insights into sentence construction and care are instructional, even inspirational.
Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein
How to Write a Sentence is a must read for aspiring writers and anyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of literature. If extraordinary sentences are like sports plays, Fish is the Vin Scully of great writing.
Washington Times
You’d get your money’s worth from the quotations alone…if you give this book the attention it so clearly deserves, you will be well rewarded.
Saudi Gazette
How to Write a Sentence is the first step on the journey to the Promised Land of good writing.
Roy Blount Jr.
Like a long periodic sentence, this book rumbles along, gathers steam, shifts gears, and packs a wallop.
CBSNews.com
If you love language you’ll find something interesting, if not fascinating, in [How to Write a Sentence].
Washington Post
The fun comes from the examples cited throughout: John Updike, Jane Austen…all are cited throughout.
National Post
Fish is a personable and insightful guide with wide-ranging erudition and a lack of pretension.
The Globe and Mail
[A] slender but potent volume. Fish, a distinguished law professor and literary theorist, is the anti-Strunk & White.
Booklist
Language lovers will flock to this homage to great writing.
Washington Post
The fun comes from the examples cited throughout: John Updike, Jane Austen…all are cited throughout.
Financial Times
Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style.
The New Yorker
[Fish] shares his connoisseurship of the elegant sentence.
Slate
A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.
People Magazine
"A sentence is, in John Donne’s words, ‘a little world made cunningly,’ writes Fish. He’ll teach you the art."
New York Magazine
"How to Write a Sentence is a compendium of syntactic gems—light reading for geeks."
