Identify Regarding Books The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
| Title | : | The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century |
| Author | : | Steven Pinker |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 368 pages |
| Published | : | September 30th 2014 by Viking (first published September 4th 2014) |
| Categories | : | Language. Writing. Nonfiction. Humanities. Linguistics. Reference. Psychology |
Steven Pinker
Hardcover | Pages: 368 pages Rating: 4.07 | 6298 Users | 768 Reviews
Chronicle In Favor Of Books The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
A short and entertaining book on the modern art of writing well by New York Times bestselling author Steven PinkerWhy is so much writing so bad, and how can we make it better? Is the English language being corrupted by texting and social media? Do the kids today even care about good writing? Why should any of us care?
In The Sense of Style, the bestselling linguist and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker answers these questions and more. Rethinking the usage guide for the twenty-first century, Pinker doesn’t carp about the decline of language or recycle pet peeves from the rulebooks of a century ago. Instead, he applies insights from the sciences of language and mind to the challenge of crafting clear, coherent, and stylish prose.
In this short, cheerful, and eminently practical book, Pinker shows how writing depends on imagination, empathy, coherence, grammatical knowhow, and an ability to savor and reverse engineer the good prose of others. He replaces dogma about usage with reason and evidence, allowing writers and editors to apply the guidelines judiciously, rather than robotically, being mindful of what they are designed to accomplish.
Filled with examples of great and gruesome prose, Pinker shows us how the art of writing can be a form of pleasurable mastery and a fascinating intellectual topic in its own right.
Be Specific About Books Conducive To The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
| ISBN: | 0670025852 (ISBN13: 9780670025855) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Regarding Books The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
Ratings: 4.07 From 6298 Users | 768 ReviewsEvaluate Regarding Books The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
Thanks to a Goodreads Firstreads giveaway, I had a chance to read an advanced copy of Pinker's Sense of Style. My thoughts on the book are a bit mixed. Here goes:The Good:--Well, let's be honest--I just read a stylebook cover to cover; it must have SOMETHING going for it!--I found Pinker's wit to be on full display here, and that was a welcome addition to what can sometimes become dry material (i.e., talk of grammar). Pinker's wit is at its best when he slyly breaks all the grammar rules he'sSteven Pinker has created a writer's guide that is interesting, useful, amusing, and also frustrating.I enjoyed the first part of this book, but the middle section got bogged down in parsing sentences and grammar exercises. I put the book down and took a week-long break from it, and debated whether to pick it up again. I finally did finish, but it was a slog. My big takeaways from this book were 1) language is constantly changing, and the English language is so inventive that when the grammar
I have enjoyed every one of Steven Pinker's books, and this one is no exception. Pinker writes engagingly, with humor, with intelligence, and with authority. He is the chair of the Usage Panel of the American Heritage Dictionary, so he has useful insights into how the English language is being used in print. As a linguist, he not only knows all the "rules" of writing, he understands the logic (or illogic) behind them. Moreover, he understands which "rules" are real, and which ones were just
I was thoroughly charmed by this well-written guide on how to write better. :) Maybe it's because real language changes. Maybe it's because true clarity comes from the spaces between the words and not absolutely from the rules about the words.But that's not to say that this cogent discussion on grammar isn't rife with practical examples and great reflection, because it does. It just happens to bring up the fact that one generation's Haberdash is another's charming fireside chat. Moreover, it
I started out reading this book as I thought it was intended: a style manual for the modern day writer. I ended up equating it more to a textbook and reference guide for the modern day writer. I can easily see this book being required for college level courses. It is deep into sentence structure,and the entire last chapter is fantastic for reference. I liked his approach of writing so that one's brain has the most effective cognitive response to what it's reading. There were moments when I admit
The Sense of Style: The Thinking Persons Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven PinkerThe Sense of Style is a scholarly and witty book on the art of writing well. Bestselling author, linguist and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker provides readers with a new writing-guide for the twenty-first century. He breaks down grammar rules and challenges purists on the best use of language. This challenging 368-page book includes the following six chapters: 1. Good Writing, 2. A Window onto the
What a wonderful book! Pinker's prose is absolutely delicious. I learmed so much from reading this - not the least of which is why my colleagues in the English Department don't value the old practice of diagramming sentences as much as I do. (But I also recognized that diagramming taught me syntax - and I'm wondering whether students now need to depend solely on reading to learn that same syntax.) Pinker is proficient at explaining why we write the way we do - and he is effective at condemnning
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