Rating: 
Summary: A pithy classic; omit needless words
Review: In 1918, as mandatory reading for the fall semester of his English 8 course at Cornell University, Professor William Strunk Jr. copyrighted and privately published in Ithaca, NY, a textbook called The Elements of Style. In 1919 Strunk had The Elements reprinted for the spring and fall semesters of that year's course - in which E.B. White was a pupil.
Then in 1957 - allowing for the professor's death on 9/26/46 - one H.A. Stevenson, editor of the Cornell Alumni News and a long-time friend of the recipient, filched from the Cornell Library one of its two remaining copies of The Elements and mailed it to a well-known friend of Strunk's, Elwyn Brooks White, who had graduated from Cornell in 1921. An essayist for the New Yorker, White, on seeing the book again, was inspired to write an affectionate piece about the late professor ("A Letter from the East," 7/27); the article was spotted by one J.G. Case, editor at The Macmillan Company, who wrote White asking whether !he would be interested in reviving the book. The original proposition was simply to use White's essay as an introduction, but the project expanded and White ended up revising (for the college market and the general trade) the text as well. At this time, the book was unheard of outside the academic world.
Thus was born The Elements of Style, with Revisions, an Introduction, and a New Chapter on Writing by E.B. White (1959). A scan through White's letters (I used Letters of E.B. White, edited by Dorothy Lobrano Guth) reveals that the Macmillan editor had commissioned three or four grammarians well versed in the textbook field to submit suggestions to White, who, distressed, retorted, "[i]f the White-Strunk opus has any virtue, any hope of circulation, it lies in our keeping its edges sharp and clear, not in rounding them off cleverly. . . .Any attempt to tamper with this prickly design will get nobody nowhere fast" (Letter to J.G. Case, 12/17/58).
The Elements of! Style, as the Chicago Manual of Style says, is a pithy "classic that offers excellent practical advice on achieving a clear and graceful expository style." Notwithstanding White's death on 10/1/85, the book is now in its fourth edition, published with a gray cover, in both hardcover and paperback, by Allyn and Bacon (who also published a third edition and has apparently superceded Macmillan as the de facto publisher.) For this "modestly updated" publication, Roger Angell, White's stepson and also a New Yorker staff writer, wrote the foreword; Charles Osgood, who also made a V.H.S. called The Elements of Style Video, wrote the afterward; and a fellow named Robert DiYanni prepared a glossary.
"Style," White tells us in a magnificent passage of his own, "takes its final shape more from attitudes of mind than from principles of composition, for as an elderly practitioner once remarked, 'Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.' This moral observation would have! no place in a rulebook were it not that style is the writer, and therefore what a man is, rather than what he knows, will at last determine his style." No writer (and we are all writers of one sort or another, remember) who is still willing to learn, who wants to grow in clarity, precision and grace, can let it go at that, though. There is much to be learned in this book. There are forgotten lessons to be remembered. They may be cast aside for good reasons - but always with an element of peril.
Rating:
Summary: Get the little book!
Review: You can read this book in an hour, and everyone ought to do so. It is conservative, but you have to know the rules before you can break them with confidence.
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Summary: Develop Your Own Style from Knowing the Basics
Review: Anyone who even thinks about wanting to write should have this book on the nighttable, or within easy reach of brief periodic readings. There are no opinions here, only straightforward, "this is how it is" rules and anecdotes of English instruction. The underlying point, like all good English books, is that there really is no new way to say, "it is," although overuse of "be" is a detriment to vivid writing. Rather, the point is certain words and expressions fade out and must eventually be replaced, such as "thee" and "thou." The English language, like all human languages, change over time, but some standards must remain. The use of plurals, capitalization, gerunds, prepositions, and so on, will still be the same.This book can be read cover to cover in less than four hours by an "average" reader, and after several more passes, the what was once forgotten rule becomes a part of memory. It is enjoyable to read because there are no tests. This book helped also me to write better. Before I would sit at my computer for a writing session, I would have the cadence of "The Elements of Style" going through my head. This book should be on the shelf of any would-be author, editor, word processor or office supervisor. Get it, read it, memorize it. Learn the basics before you move on to more complex pieces of writing. You will become more confident for having done so, and your readers will be able to tell.
Rating:
Summary: A good reminder
Review: This was assigned reading my senior year of high school. Ever since, I've tried to read it once a year. You can skim it in about an hour. It's enjoyable (for a book on grammar and style, that's a feat) and it reminds you of all those rules you break the rest of the year.
Rating:
Summary: makes the battle look like fun
Review: I no longer read the rules. I know most of them now, and I know which ones I will break if I am not careful. I still read the introduction, and I still glance through the book looking for encouragement and inspiration. The effort pays off when I write a ghastly sentence in the middle of an important e-mail and consider pressing the "send" button. I remember that I may save one reader by re-writing that sentence. I could slink off the field of battle, but instead, I lower my lance and charge. Strunk and White remind me that the battle is worth it and that, by God, it's fun.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book, now ruined in latest edition.
Review: Why tamper with a successful work? Why, for reasons of political correctness, of course. I like the way they snuck that in in the introduction to the current edition.
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Summary: A rescue line for those struggling with writing
Review: This book has everything in there that you always wonder about while writing papers. All those little hang-ups and what-if-that-is-wrongs are explained within. Not to mention many other rules and guidelines you may not have ever known existed. This is a definite for anyone taking English, or anyone who struggles with writing, grammer, etc. Easy to read, easy to follow and presented in a very unthreatening size.
Rating: 
Summary: Anh...
Review: OK. So this is one of the definitive reference books on style in written English. Just don't confuse style with grammar--if you want to understand grammar per se, this isn't the book for you. (Steven Pinker's "The Language Instinct" is what you want--quite a bit wittier than Strunk & White, too.) "The Chicago Manual of Style" or "Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age" are both for sale at Amazon, too, and I think they're ultimately better references. But if you want to write well, well, buy Strunk & White, and abide by their oft-archaic but always lucid guidelines. Just, please, don't stop with them. The most-acclaimed writers in the English language conform not closely to Strunk & White's principles (cf. Shakespeare, Jefferson, Longfellow, Hemmingway, Pynchon, Morrison... whatever your taste may be), so be mindful that this book is not alone the key to becoming a great writer.
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Summary: Great-I use it often, but GRAMMAR CRAMMER has a better index
Review: and the GRAMMAR CRAMMER (by Turkel & Peterson) is the same number of pages, larger print, and often gives the answer I can't find or quite understand in THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE.
Rating:
Summary: A succinctly stated summary of style. Buy it, or be wordy.
Review: This book will take the wind out of the sails of the pompous, the excessive, the unnecessary in prose. You'll find yourself throwing adjectives to the wolves and taking a meat axe to bloated sentences. In a word, this book is cool.
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