A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation
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ISBN-10:
0393329801
ISBN-13:
9780393329803
Pub. Date:
04/16/2007
Publisher:
Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation

A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation

by Noah LukemanNoah Lukeman

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 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780393329803
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 04/16/2007
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 208
Sales rank: 360,168
Product dimensions: 5.60(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Noah Lukeman is the author of several bestselling books on the craft of writing, among them A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation. Noah lives in New York City, where he runs a literary agency.

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A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation 4.7 out of 5 based on 0 ratings. 3 reviews.
melopher on LibraryThing More than 1 year ago
I'm a language geek, so reading a book about punctuation is actually a fun thing for me. This book was aimed more at writers. Instead of hard and fast rules, it explored what punctuation use says about a writer, how it affects the reading, etc. Quick and interesting.
janett0 More than 1 year ago
This book is for creative writers. This means writers of fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, and screenplays,including anyone seeking to write well, for business, school or any other endeavor. This book offers punctuation as artistic expression. As a means of impacting the content in a most profound way. Punctuation can influence the reading experience, to craft a finer work. This book will teach you to become sensitive, enabling you to be a better writer. It is not about making you a better grammarian. This book teaches how punctuation reveals the writer, and ways to tap in to alter intention of a scene, and much more. Strengths in writing can be spotted by the method of punctuation. This book would be a wealth of wisdom to any library. I own a copy of this inspiring book.
C_J_SINGH More than 1 year ago
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