Product Description

A masterpiece in the art of clear and concise writing, and an exemplar of the principles it explains.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5689 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 52 pages

Customer Reviews

WARNING: Amazon is commingling reviews
First of all, great book. Been writing professionally for 20 years, and I still use this book occasionally.

WARNING on REVIEWS: Amazon is using the same customer reviews for "The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition" by Strunk and White (1999) and "The Elements of Style - the Original Edition" by Strunk (without White) (1920), re-published September 2007.

Since the republication of Strunk's original work was released in September 2007, all reviews before that date pertain to "Strunk & White." Any review after that date, unless clearly indicated, could pertain to either book.

The books are markedly different, but Amazon is using the same customer reviews for both.

The print leaves much to be desired.
The book is great, I mean it's a classic but this version looks like it came right off the photo copier of the original print for 100 years ago. It's horribly fussy and the copy spacing is poor. I suggest finding a version by a different publisher.

a concise review of grammar rules, extremely useful!
William Strunk's book "The Elements of Style" was recommended to me by an American friend, whose linguistic abilities I value very high. I ordered the book immediately and was surprised, when it arrived, by how thin it was. It turned out to be a compendium, which would best be memorized (I am not joking!). This American English writing style guide was written in 1918, but has not aged at all. The most important rules of American English, and the ones most commonly forgotten (like the use of Saxon Genitive of commas), are gathered here. I found the collection of frequently misspelled words very useful, too (although I though of some I could add, for example "receive", which I see misspelled more often than not). For me, the most helpful part was the discussion on brevity and omitting then unnecessary words - I still struggle with long sentences and too many adjectives and adverbs. This small volume is a must-have for anyone who wants to write correctly in English!