Saturday, December 13, 2008

Book review: Garner on Language and Writing

Once again, I hit the jackpot with my Early Reviewer book from LibraryThing. For November I received Garner on Language and Writing by Bryan A. Garner.

I love well-written books on using the written word, and this is a good one. Although the main focus is on legal writing, the book is accessible and useful even for those of us who aren't legal scholars. And for those of us who enjoy reading about the law, it is doubly enjoyable. Garner encourages clarity and precision in writing, which is always good advice, whatever your field.

The large and well organized final chapter, "Recommended Sources on Language and Writing," has added many books to my wanted list, and makes this book even more of a must-have for those who are interested in good writing in general and legal writing in particular.

2 comments:

Susan said...

Hey, that's the guy who wrote my "Dictionary of Modern American Usage" which I absolutely LOVE!!! It's instructive. It's arranged alphabetically by topic. And it's even fun to read. This book is so fantastic that it would be impossible to overpraise it. So if you liked his book on legal writing, you would really like the basic one.

Jane said...

I was looking at that one on Amazon, thinking that I would add it to my wish list. Thanks for the recommendation!