Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace (7th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: More valuable than Strunk and White
Review: This little-known gem is the very best American book on writing and grammar. I have found it immensely valuable over an 18-year career as newspaper reporter, magazine editor, columnist and technical writer. Williams teaches you to write clearly and directly, to eliminate the bureaucratic bull and to make your sentences sing. When I was a cub reporter, I would do a few of his exercises in my head each morning as I warmed up the car. By the time I had finished the book, I could cut through the deadly jargon of school committee babble and social service double-talk and put my reports in words that people could read without slipping into a coma. The most amazing thing about this book is that it isn't famous in the writing community. If you care about your writing, buy it -- you can't go wrong.

Rating:
Summary: "Sine Qua Non" Clarity comes with Tactile Pleasure
Review: This tome is scintillating to read. Every paragraph speaks volumes on-point. This book remains open on its own. The paper and type quality bring no-anxiety reading, and this book just plain feels good to hold.

Rating:
Summary: Insights into how to enliven your writing
Review: Williams helpfully surveys the "rules" of English, but also provides insight into the WHYs of following and of bending them. I have studied only the portions relevant to non-fiction writing, but have been most pleased with the organic feel Williams provides for understanding why and how to make choices in the structuring of sentences and paragraphs. This volume goes so far beyond grammar rule books - although it also conveys most effectively the rules of English.

I especially enjoyed the late chapters on matters such as "shape" and "elegance." I had not expected such poetic sensitivity from a linguist (forgive my chauvinism). Williams reveals the principles behind why some structure- and word-choices enliven a message... and some cripple it.

Williams takes a lot of the mystery out of writing - and a lot of the struggle.