The Glamour of Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English - Hardcover

Clark, Roy Peter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031602791X ISBN 13: 9780316027915

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2010

Synopsis

Early in the history of English, the words "grammar" and "glamour" meant the same thing: the power to charm. Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools, aims to put the glamour back in grammar with this fun, engaging alternative to stuffy instructionals. In this practical guide, readers will learn everything from the different parts of speech to why effective writers prefer concrete nouns and active verbs. THE GLAMOUR OF GRAMMAR gives readers all the tools they need to"live inside the language"--to take advantage of grammar to perfect their use of English, to instill meaning, and to charm through their writing. With this indispensable book, readers will come to see just how glamorous grammar can be.

About this title

About the Author:

Roy Peter Clark is vice president and senior scholar at The Poynter Institute, one of the most prestigious schools for journalists in the world. He has taught writing at every level--to schoolchildren and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors--for more than thirty years, and has spoken about the writer's craft on The Oprah Winfrey Show, NPR, and The Today Show; at conferences from Singapore to Brazil; and at news organizations from the New York Times to The Sowetan in South Africa. A writer who teaches and a teacher who writes, he has authored or edited fifteen books about writing and journalism, including his most recent, Writing Tools. He lives in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Review:

"Very much a manual for the 21st century...a welcome addition to the bookshelf of anyone who cares about language-and is willing to argue about it."―Ammon Shea, the New York Times Book Review

"A fine common-sense guide to the proper use of language."―Barbara Fisher, the Boston Globe

"An engaging and witty exploration of the shifting rules of English grammar...Clark shows breathtaking knowledge of how language is used in the real world and a passionate commitment to helping writers make good choices."―Chuck Leddy, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"[Roy Peter] Clark takes readers through a well-paced presentation...he conveys the magic that is to be found in English, in its ever active evolution."―Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal

"Clark...has laid out several entertaining, easy-to-follow rules, governing everything from punctuation to alliteration, that promise to dramatically improve one's writing and develop an appreciation for language. Who knew that a discussion of grammar could induce laughter? This is an eminently readable, extremely enjoyable guide that readers will find highly useful on their path to development, not just as writers, but as readers."―Publishers Weekly

"What I learned from this book:

1) That grammar has meant mastery of all arts and letters (to the Greeks) and power, magic, and enchantment (to the Scots). Wow.

2) That for the artful writer, no decision is too small, including whether to use a or the. Awesome.

3) That there are right-branching, left-branching, and middle-branching sentences. How cool!

4) That Roy Peter Clark, a modern-day Pied Piper of grammar, makes good writing both approachable and doable. Phew!"―Constance Hale, author of Sin and Syntax

"Who, other than a word-lover like Roy Peter Clark, would dare link "glamour" with (ugh) "grammar"? Here it is--a book of enchantment about words and how words work and what they mean and how to spell them, where even lowly semicolons get appreciated as "swinging gates" in a sentence. Who'd a thunk a book on grammar could be fun? And humorous. Check out "cleave" and "cleaveage.""―Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking

"If grammar is medicine, then Roy Clark gives us the spoonful of sugar to help it go down. A wonderful tour through the labyrinth of language."―Anne Hull, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, The Washington Post

"If 'Euphemisms are unpleasant truths wearing diplomatic cologne,' as Quentin Crisp once said, then Ralph Keyes has given word and language lovers a deeply fragrant-and thoroughly enjoyable-book."―Dr. Mardy Grothe, author of Oxymoronica and other quotation anthologies

"If there is indeed a glamour to grammar, I should have known Roy Peter Clark would be the one to spot it. Clark is a trusty guide for anyone wanting to avoid the (many) pitfalls and scale the (hard-won) peaks of perpetrating prose."―Ben Yagoda, author of Memoir: A History and The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Writing

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 031602791X
• ISBN 13: 9780316027915
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304