Rating: 
Summary: The most overrated writing manual of all time
Review: This little book approaches the craft of writing with the sort of dogmatic rigidity usually found in a backwoods cult. Of course it is still popular in most schools. Many teachers, admiring its bluntness and terseness, swear by "the little book." Students, especially if they're competent writers to begin with, are more likely to swear _at_ it.By focusing exclusively on local concerns (grammar, word usage, and sentence-level fluency), Strunk and White transform written argument, the hallmark of civilized discourse, into a lexical "no man's land." They reveal alleged errors, scattered like land mines beneath the surface of perfectly acceptable, communicative prose. In the twisted world of _Style_, the job of "good writing" is to avoid error, in the same way that the job of a "good soldier" is to avoid getting shot. Small wonder that students nursed on these precepts approach their writing with fear and trembling -- their term papers have become suicide missions. Needless to say, most professional writers don't approach their craft in this way. If they do, they eventually abandon writing for a less stressful occupation, like postal delivery or day trading. I've given the book an extra star for the final chapter on style, which attempts to mitigate some of the damage done in earlier chapters. This chapter is White's principal contribution to the book, and shows that even an excellent writer may not understand -- at least not any more than the average joe -- how or why his prose works.
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Summary: Pure Basics:
Review: Would recommend to anyone that is always worried about witting e-mails, proposals, business documents, even reviews for Amazon.com. English might be easy to speak at times but writing it is not as simple as I thought. This little reference book has been a very good guide for the past couple of weeks. Read it at least once every other month, so that writing basic documents should not be a problem.
Rating: 
Summary: Good But Limited
Review: Strunk and White are great for a quick review of crisp style. However, they are not of any help for developing a complex style, making use of metaphor, or taking advantage of the new formats used in today's essays. The book is also not fun to read. For a hot read and to and muscle to Strunk and White's weaknesses see the Hoffman's book entitled Adios, Strunk and White.
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Summary: The most important book on how to write well.
Review: This is the most important book on how to write well. It is clear, concise, and a quick read. After reading this book, you will have all the basics of proper grammar and usage. I learned more from this book in a week than I did in years of schooling. I wish teachers would use this as a text, since it is inexpensive and highly effective. EVERYONE should have this book. This is one book that delivers the goods.
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Summary: No One Did it Better
Review: I cannot begin to describe how many "elements" of this book have become permanent structures of my own writing. As a professional writer, I am always thinking of how I can say something better, in a more concise, clean, effective manner; this book is behind my efforts. Every writer has an inner critic, who, every time you write a sentence, either nods in approval, shakes his head, or (in extreme cases) looks skyward and gasps. After reading this book, your inner critic teams up with E.B. White for joint criticism. Aside from the central part of the book, which consists of a series of illuminating suggestions and comments on word choice and grammar usage, the book concludes with a terrific essay on effective writing.
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Summary: 4th Edition Revised & Better Than Ever!
Review: This is, of course, a classic, but it should be noted that some of the examples in the book have been updated. The revisions are subtle and pleasing. They don't change the book radically, but make it just slightly more interesting. Toni Morrison is mentioned, for instance. The book is essentially still the same firm, friendly, concise Strunk and White most of us grew up with.
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Summary: if this isn't on your shelf....
Review: ....then you're not a writer, for this is THE concise classic of style written as a series of precepts. Some are outdated, but the book's own style will never be.
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Summary: my favorite part...
Review: My favorite part of Strunk and White is in the last chapter: "No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader's intelligence, or whose attitude is patronizing. ... It is now necessary to warn the writer that his concern for the reader must be pure: he must sympathize with the reader's plight (most readers are in trouble about half the time) but never seek to know his wants. The whole duty of a writer is to please and satisfy himself, and the true writer always plays to an audience of one. Let him start sniffing the air, or glancing at the Trend Machine, and he is as good as dead, although he may make a nice living."
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Summary: Excellent book on the elements of style!
Review: Not being a big fan of either style or grammar books , I had my reservations after having bought the elemts of style. Fortunately, the elemenst of style is a witty book that has very useful information when it comes to the art of writing. I especially like the part that deals with misused words and expressions.
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Summary: Very useful, BUT...
Review: This is a very useful little book that can help you become a better writer- read it, learn from it, master the rules... and then break any of em' you see fit. Language mavens like Saphire, Strunk and White serve a good purpose- but don't take em' too seriously or English will end up like French; stuffy, rigid and laced with arcane rules. If Shakespear had had a book like this when he was writing, our English lexicon would be much porer today. English is the most diverse, maleable and alive language on the planet. Let's keep it that way!
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