Review:
This fifth edition of The Business Writer's Handbook consists of nearly 700 spiral-bound pages written with both business students and professionals in mind. (It is also available in a paper-bound version, but how nice to be able to lay the book flat on one's desk for ease of reference.) "Our focus," say the editors, "is on helping professionally oriented writers develop effective skills and strategies for communicating in a rapidly changing environment," and that they do. The entries, arranged alphabetically, are straightforward and to the point. Sandwiched between items addressing issues of English grammar and word usage are guides to writing résumés, resignation letters, and everything in between (e.g., abstracts, annual reports, e-mail, executive summaries, form letters, feasibility studies, memos, mission statements, proposals, and trade journal articles). Throughout the book, the point is made that good writing has a marked effect on business communications--a short, personal collection letter, for instance, "will usually motivate a customer to pay a bill faster than will a form letter." Since the book is written for the business professional, many of the usage and grammar issues are illustrated with business-related examples, but don't think that that means the book isn't any fun. Consider the first sentence in an entry for gobbledygook: "Gobbledygook is writing that suffers from an overdose of traits guaranteed to make it stuffy, pretentious, and wordy." --Jane Steinberg
About the Author:
Gerald J. Alred is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where he teaches courses in the Professional Writing Program. He is author of numerous scholarly articles and several standard bibliographies on business and technical communication, and he is a founding member of the editorial board of the Journal of Business Communication. He is a recipient of the prestigious Jay R. Gould Award for “profound scholarly and textbook contributions to the teaching of business and technical writing.” Charles T. Brusaw served as a faculty member at NCR Corporation’s Management College, where he developed and taught courses in professional writing, editing, and presentation skills for the corporation worldwide. Previously, he worked in advertising technical writing, public relations, and curriculum development. He has been a communications consultant, an invited speaker at academic conferences, and a teacher of business writing at Sinclair Community College. Walter E. Oliu served as Chief of the Publishing Services Branch at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He is a communications consultant in the Washington, D.C. area and has taught at Miami University of Ohio, Slippery Rock State University, Montgomery College, and George Mason University.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.