How Not to Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar

How Not to Write is a wickedly witty book about grammar, usage, and style. William Safire, the author of the New York Times Magazine column On Language, homes in on the essential misrules of grammar, those mistakes that call attention to the major rules and regulations of writing. He tells you the correct way to write and then tells you when it is all right to break the rules. In this lighthearted guide, he chooses the most common and perplexing concerns of writers new and old. Each mini-chapter starts by stating a misrule like Don't use Capital letters without good REASON. Safire then follows up with solid and entertaining advice on language, grammar, and life. He covers a vast territory from capitalization, split infinitives (it turns out you can split one if done meaningfully), run-on sentences, and semi-colons to contractions, the double negative, dangling participles, and even onomatopoeia. Originally published under the title Fumblerules.

Author: William Safire
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 07/01/2005
Pages: 162
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.40lbs
Size: 7.72h x 4.80w x 0.52d
ISBN: 9780393327236

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 04/01/2005 pg. 407
Publishers Weekly 05/02/2005 pg. 185
Ingram Advance 07/01/2005 pg. 71

About the Author
Safire, William: - William Safire (1929--2009), a Pulitzer Prize-winner, was the long-time author of the On Language column in the New York Times Magazine.