Patricia T. O'Conner, a former editor at the "New York Times Book Review," has written for many magazines and newspapers. She is the author of two other books on language and writing, "Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know" "About Writing" and "You Send Me: Getting It Right When You Write Online."
The second edition of O'Connor's delightful guide to good English offers a new chapter on e-mail etiquette that ought to make many people-even grammar snobs-feel a tad guilty: "E-mail," she writes, "is no excuse for lousy English." Let your audience determine your attention to tone and mechanics; use salutations and signatures; resist the urge to indiscriminately forward mail; and leave those emoticons and abbreviations at home, she says. Commonsense stuff-but every once in a while, it's nice to be reminded. The rest of the volume is similar to the first: witty, economical and fun to read, it explains the secrets to grammar in refreshingly jargon-free sentences illustrated by numerous examples ("'I assure you,' said the grieving widow, 'I ensured he was insured to the hilt'"). When is "majority" plural, and when singular? How does saying "Trixie loves spaghetti more than I?" mean something completely different than "Trixie loves spaghetti more than me?" While the volume is certainly handy to someone struggling with grammar basics-there are few style guides so breezy-the "Verbal Abuse" section will appeal to language experts and purists, especially those who decry the use of partner as a verb, or grow with a direct object (as in "grow the business"). As for those who like to use dialogue as a verb, "Don't talk to them," O'Connor says. (July) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
This work is a dream come true for anyone who doesn't know how to choose between fewer and less, who has used a hyphen instead of a dash or vice versa, and who thinks that writing an email message isn't really writing. A revised and updated version of a successful first edition, it uses a clever and enjoyable tone to present the reader with the do's and don'ts of basic grammar. Darn, this is fun; the author doesn't take herself or the subject matter too seriously, offering a delightful romp through the intricacies of our language. She breaks the topics out into chapters with names like "Woe Is I-Therapy for Pronoun Anxiety," "Verbal Abuse-Words on the Endangered List," and "Death Sentence-Do Clich?s Deserve To Die?" O'Conner is a former editor for the New York Times Book Review and the author of two other books on writing and the English language (Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know About Writing and You Send Me: Getting It Right When You Write Online). She knows her subject, can convey her message with wit and ease, and does it all in a compact, easy-to-read format. In short, this is an entertaining and useful grammar reference.-Manya S. Chylinski, Ernst & Young Ctr. for Business Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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