Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay: Practical Advice for the Grammatically Challenged

For years Richard Lederer has enthralled fans of the English language with his keen insights, commonsense advice, and witty presentation. Now Lederer has teamed up with Richard Dowis to take readers on another journey through the world's most wonderful, albeit perplexing, language. How many times have we all heard the word viable used in company meetings? Lederer and Dowis show us how "viable," somewhere along the line, was extracted from medical books, where it literally means "capable of living," and placed into the business lexicon, where it means...well, who knows?

The authors clear up once and for all the confusion between lay and lie and put to rest some common myths about language. The book's finale is a ten-minute writing lesson from which everyone, from rank amateur to seasoned pro, can benefit. These and dozens of other features make this book pure pleasure for language buffs, writers, and teachers. Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay is useful and authoritative as well as fun to read, with humorous touches often popping up where least expected and most needed.

Richard Lederer is the author of more than a dozen books on language and literature. He speaks and lectures throughout the country and is often a guest on radio and television.

Richard Dowis, a former journalist and public-relations executive, is the author of a recent book on speechwriting. He is president of the Society for the Preservation of English Language and Literature, a two-thousand-member organization of language lovers and word watchers. Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay is the second book that Lederer and Dowis have cowritten. The first, The Write Way, was published in 1996.