Product Description

Today’s writers need more spunk than Strunk: whether it's the Great American e-mail, Madison Avenue advertising, or Grammy Award-winning rap lyrics, memorable writing must jump off the page. Copy veteran Constance Hale is on a mission to make creative communication, both the lyrical and the unlawful, an option for everyone.

With its crisp, witty tone, Sin and Syntax covers grammar’s ground rules while revealing countless unconventional syntax secrets (such as how to use—Gasp!—interjections or when to pepper your prose with slang) that make for sinfully good writing. Discover how to:

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Distinguish between words that are “pearls” and words that are “potatoes”

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Avoid “couch potato thinking” and “commitment phobia” when choosing verbs

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Use literary devices such as onomatopoeia, alliteration, and metaphor (and understand what you're doing)

Everyone needs to know how to write stylish prose—students, professionals, and seasoned writers alike. Whether you’re writing to sell, shock, or just sing, Sin and Syntax is the guide you need to improve your command of the English language.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12241 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-20
• Released on: 2001-03-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.com Review
You gotta love a grammar guide that calls verbs "moody little suckers" and adverbs "promiscuous." Constance Hale (Wired Style) relishes prose that is deliberate, beautiful, and bold. Go ahead and break the rules, she says; just know the rules first, and know why you are breaking them. In Sin & Syntax, Hale examines the elements of grammar from four angles: the "bones" (the grammar lesson), the "flesh" (the writing lesson), "cardinal sins" (what she calls "true transgressions"), and "carnal pleasures" (the beauty that results from either "hew[ing] exquisitely to the underlying codes of language," or not).

For illustration, Hale hails Walt Whitman and Roger Angell, and rails upon Alexander Haig and the Gump's catalogue. She hauls in Joan Didion to make a case for writing in the first person, Mark Twain to promote the killing of adjectives, C.S. Lewis to advocate showing rather than telling, and Loudon Wainwright III to lament the abuse of the word like. But Hale has no problem making her own points. "Euphemisms," she says, "are for wimps." She dismisses a particularly heinous example of scholarly prose as "a bunch of big words thrown into an Osterizer." Even other grammarians don't escape her derision: "Get a grip," Hale says. "Hopefully as a sentence adverb is here to stay." But what distinguishes Sin and Syntax most is its enthusiasm for prose that takes risks. "Even if you have to check with a lawyer," says Hale, "isn't a kick-ass piece of writing worth the effort?" --Jane Steinberg

From Library Journal
Hale, editor of the hip Wired Style (LJ 10/1/96), has put together a writing/grammar manual that is fresh and fun. The basic rules are here, and they are well explained. The "sin" from the title is partly advice on when and how to break these rules. The other sins are examples of oft-repeated mistakes. Readers will not be told how to write a novel, a poem, or a newspaper article, but if they are writing one this guide will help them use effective and artful language. The examples range from Dr. Seuss books to John F. Kennedy's speeches to commercials, and a short bibliography of books on writing, grammar, and language is included. Easy to understand and appealing to a broad range of readers, this book is highly recommend for all libraries.ALisa J. Cihlar, Monroe P.L., WI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Wired editor Hale expertly coaches experienced and would-be writers in how to craft sinfully good prose. She examines the underlying codes that "give prose its clarities yet fail to explain its beauties." The book is divided into three parts: "Words," "Sentences," and "Music." Each chapter offers a section on "cardinal sins," the words and patterns to shun (e.g., wimpy euphemisms, dead metaphors), and a section on "carnal pleasures," the patterns to relish (e.g., high-octane verbs, rhythm). The examples, carnal or otherwise, always enlighten and entertain. For instance, Hale draws on the "mischievous prepositions" in a letter from Charles Dodgson Sr. to his young son (later known as Lewis Carroll); on the metaphorical wit of president Teddy Roosevelt, who accused McKinley of having "all the backbone of a chocolate eclair"; and on the rhythms of rap. Whether this hip guide (spunk) will replace the standard classic (Strunk) is debatable, but it should foster more than a few of our future storytellers. Philip Herbst

Customer Reviews

Fun reading even for grammar know-it-alls
Well structured, as it must be, Hale's guide presents both the nuts and bolts of grammar and the considerations of style that cannot exist without a sound grasp of grammar. The book begins each section simply, with the "bones" of the part of speech being explained, puts on the "flesh," and elucidates the "cardinal sins" and the "carnal pleasures" of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and so on. Even when the going gets heavy, as in her discussions of attributive nouns or appositive phrases, her clear, conversational tone smooths the way. She concludes with reflections about voice, lyricism, melody, and rhythm. One of the best features of her book is a glut of choice passages from the likes of Nabokov, Joan Didion, George Orwell, Jamaica Kincaid, and many others. Her well-read reach extends to rap lyrics and the wine labels written by the flip, clever copywriters at Bonny Doon Vineyards. The collection of quotations alone makes this book worth owning. At times the tone is slightly uneven, as when she follows a serious discussion of rules with the casual use of words like "gonna" and "wimps" (apparently she has a reputation for being hip to uphold), and she includes sentence diagrams without really explaining how they operate. Her advice to "go ahead and be ungrammatical if it feels right" may make some sticklers swoon. But these are minor flaws in a manual that is useful for beginners and seasoned writers alike. You close the book understanding how the rich inventiveness of English is rooted in its complex grammar and vocabulary, which are the reasons it can be so flexible, so magical -- the reason, in fact, that language creates reality. Includes a helpful appendix describing other grammar guides.

A "Must-Read" for every writer!
This book is probably one of the best grammar books out there, and it is absolutely a "Must-Read" for every writer (fiction and nonfiction, also journalists should read through it). The author is clear and precise in her explanations of grammatical concepts and possibilities, and she makes grammar fun. Some conventional approaches to grammar are challenged in this book, but the author Constance Hale--who currently teaches at U.C. Berkeley--is a qualified professional in her field. She's a maverick and she offers a healthy dose of motivation to be creative with your use of grammar in the new millenium. This book can really help to equip a writer with this certain edge in his or her writing projects.

unbelievable--a grammar book that's fun to read!
This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I have to admit that I was at first reluctant to pick it up. But I do like to write, and I figured that there might be some helpful information in the book for me. I was SO SURPRISED to find that I was actually enjoying reading the book! Hale's writing is so fun, and the examples she uses are great. You can tell from the title--SIN AND SYNTAX: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose--that this is going to be more exciting than Strunk and White, which I suffered through in high school. Not only will it help you improve your writing--with real world application for careers and the like, not just for students--but you'll have fun reading. Believe it.