Product Description

Contains over 5,000 entries laying out the AP's rules on grammar, spelling, punctuation, and usage. Paper.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #171865 in Books
• Published on: 1998-05-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Amazon.com Review
The world is divided into two types of people: those who wince when they see the words Canadian geese in print, and those who don't. If you are the former, or if you are the latter working for the former, the The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual provides invaluable assistance when you need to get your Canada geese all in a row. Countless newspapers and other publications base their style guides on this manual. The entries are arranged alphabetically and include issues of spelling, punctuation (there is no period in Dr Pepper), grammar, abbreviation, capitalization (Popsicle and Dumpster are, tollhouse cookies aren't), hyphenation (none, surprisingly, in ball point pen), and frequently misused words. There are also longer discussions of things such as Arabic names, chess notation, weather terms, and religious movements. Plus you'll find separate sections on sports writing, business writing, libel, and copyright.

Customer Reviews

This book is an invaluable resource for all writers.

While the media run rampant with flimsy leads and stories based solely on hearsay, it's good to know that at least their grammar stays in check, thanks to the hard and fast rules set forth in the Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual.

Providing direct distinctions between similar words, the correct spelling of commonly-misspelled words, and the politically-correct use of dangerous words, the AP stylebook delineates specific style rules for virtually every journalistic possibility. Set up in a dictionary-style format, the manual's general stylebook lists everything from the perils of "a" versus "an" to the preferred usage of ZIP codes.

Following the stylebook are the more specific sections dealing with sports and business style, both also set up with A to Z listings, including usage and spelling. Although sports writing info may be confined to the needs of the sportswriter, the business section is helpful for those who take interest in corporate designations and definitions of stock market terms.

Finally, just before the manual switches from the absoluteness of style to the murky legal waters of the libel section, comes, in my opinion, the pièce de résistance-A Guide To Punctuation-music to the ears of syntax-psychos and grammar-Nazis, alike.

Starting with words of wisdom from what the AP refers to as "a bible of writers," "The Elements of Style," this portion is eleven pages of invaluable knowledge for any writer, regardless of profession, and is arranged so succintly that even children can access its information for their own use.

Although I have thus far had little use for the information about libel in this book, it is primarily what its introduction claims-not a libel text, but merely a useful guide which "explains the fundamental principles in libel for working writers and editors." It also contains some key parts of the Freedom of Information Act which should be read by everyone to fully know our rights regarding the access to federal information, during what has now become the Age of the X-file.

All-in-all, the AP Stylebook and Libel Manual should be a welcome edition to any writer's reference library.

The single best reference book for English grammar and usage
The AP Stylebook and Libel Manual is hands down the most useful single reference book on the English language. Particularly helpful are clear discussions of possessives, punctuation, and other nuts and bolts issues. And it doesn't weigh a ton, either.

Vital info. for aspiring journalist
In my first year of taking Journalism we learned proper terms, usage, and punctuation for a newspaper through the AP Stylebook. My teacher, ex-editor turned Journalism teacher, taught us why these rules exist, and how to put them to use in our own writing by giving us tests on certain terms and word usage. I didn't like taking them but am grateful for learning that words like "controversial" and "definitely" should be avoided, and that Frisbee is a brand name. When copy-editing this book is handy and gets us through petty arguments over how a certain word should be fixed to meet the standards. It is a very helpful Journalism reference book.