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Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace Paperback – 23 Dec 2004

4.3 out of 5 stars 3 customer reviews

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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Longman; 8 edition (23 Dec. 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0321288319
  • ISBN-13: 978-0321288318
  • Product Dimensions: 13.8 x 1.5 x 20.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 421,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • See Complete Table of Contents

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Customer Reviews

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Top Customer Reviews

Format: Paperback
Succinct. Relevant. Decisive. Descriptive. What more do you want from a style guide? Do read it...
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Format: Paperback
This book is recommended by Geoffrey Pullum as an alternative to Strunk & White's 'Elements of Style'. I am very glad I took this advice. This is not a proscriptive rule book full of inconsistent (and incorrect) grammatical rules for the budding writer to follow slavishly. Instead it explains how clear writing that is a pleasure to read can be achieved by aiming for clarity (and grace).
Writing is not easy. The reader of this book is unlikely to become a great writer on reading it once. However, the reader is very likely to be a better writer. This is a book to be dipped into over time. Well worth the money.
Those who prescribe the writing style that is taught to english school children at GCSE and A-level would do well to play close attention to this book--particularly the advice on making writing less turgid.
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Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Bought for use in the office.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)

Amazon.com: 4.5 out of 5 stars 53 reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Insights into how to enliven your writing 13 Jan. 2005
By richardpinneau.com - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Williams helpfully surveys the "rules" of English, but also provides insight into the WHYs of following and of bending them. I have studied only the portions relevant to non-fiction writing, but have been most pleased with the organic feel Williams provides for understanding why and how to make choices in the structuring of sentences and paragraphs. This volume goes so far beyond grammar rule books - although it also conveys most effectively the rules of English.

I especially enjoyed the late chapters on matters such as "shape" and "elegance." I had not expected such poetic sensitivity from a linguist (forgive my chauvinism). Williams reveals the principles behind why some structure- and word-choices enliven a message... and some cripple it.

Williams takes a lot of the mystery out of writing - and a lot of the struggle.
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource for writers and editors 1 Sept. 2008
By Paralogue - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Paperback
I wish I had this book five years ago when I was starting out as a copy editor at my college newspaper. In this abridged version of the text, Williams provides guidelines and techniques as to how to revise problematic sentences. He dissects the problems in a clear fashion and leads the reader through the process of editing through the problems. It takes only a few hours to read, but sessions of careful re-reading will prove rewarding for your writing and editing skills.

Although the focus is on nonfiction writing, insofar as I can tell, the advice and methods Williams presents can be applied beyond nonfiction. Williams does use a lot of grammar terminology and does diagram some sentences, almost a lost skill nowadays, but he explains himself clearly, concisely, and with examples.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who seeks to improve their writing and editing skills, especially at the college level. Added bonus: this is more inexpensive compared to the unabridged version of the book.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly Practical 4 Jan. 2007
By M. Nir - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I view writing manuals with more than a hint of jaundice, but I found this one surprisingly practical. I first encountered in in law school, and the examples and exercises helped me to understand where people would find my writing confusing, even when I thought I was being clear. It also helped me become a better editor -- because I could explain to other writers where they were stumbling and how to correct it.

I lost my copy when I moved after law school, and immediately bought another one -- money being perhaps the most telling recommendation of all.
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the Best 6 Sept. 2006
By Amazon Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
It is difficult to know where to begin. I am writing a brief review of this book to counter the negative reviews I read. I was stunned: I expected to read rave reviews of Professor Williams' book. Without wanting to offend anyone, they are for the most part so far off the mark I would think they were talking about another book.

One author mentioned Strunk and White's book as the ideal. As much as I loved this book when I was young, it seems slightly old-fashioned, even quaint now, and encourages an attention to rules that seems superficial. On the other hand, Williams' book takes advantage of the more systematic, deep approach to language, rhetoric and communication that was developed by the best linguists of the 20th century. There is a good reason that this book has had so many editions for such a long period of time (now in the 8th edition). It is because it is based on an insight that touches a deep truth about communicating in writing: that subjects and verbs, or characters and their actions as Williams helpfully calls them at times, form the basic elements of the English sentence. It is Williams' ability to draw out the implications of this simple truth that gives his book its genius. Emerson once said that rhythm is the deep structure of the universe (he said it better but I can't remember his words); I feel that Emerson would smile in agreement at Williams thesis: that it is an understanding of the significance of the basic character/action relationship between the subject and verb that gives a sentence its strength and, on a "higher" level, the same systole/diastole relationship between theme and discussion that gives a paragraph its strength.

I am by no means doing Professor Williams' book justice, and I would not have written this review if the others had not been so, well, wrong. His writing bad? On the contrary, good writing, as Williams points out in a useful addition to one of the later editions of his book on controlling longer sentences, does not mean Dick and Jane type sentences, and he does not allow himself to fall into Strunk and White's tendency to oversimplify in explaining his ideas. I am now directing an English language program at a major university in Thailand after teaching English at Indiana University for 20 years, and I was recently asked to teach a graduate course on writing. What book did I first reach for in looking for the most substantial, concrete, practical and useful lessons on writing so that my students would not be exposed to the usual platitudes on omitting needless words and relying on your taste to be your guide? Professor Williams' book of course. It is the best of the best and will reward you endlessly as you apply his basic insights in your own writing.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars 2nd time I've been through it 19 Oct. 2005
By Ami - Published on Amazon.com
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I'm a senior in college and I'm presently going through this book in a class for the second time. I think that the second time is making a big difference in the way I approach editing moreso than writing (being sure that those essays I edit for friends have characters as subjects and place new information at the ends of sentences). All in all, I think this book is terrific if you're going through it with someone, but probably not great if you're trying to go at it alone. I only learned to put the lessons into play once I realized I'd make an F if I didn't.
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