Benjamin Dreyer is the Copy Chief of Random House. I believe that Dreyer’s experience as a copy editor makes Dreyer’s English stand out from the crowded field of grammar/style books. While William Strunk and E. B. White’s Elements of Style and Lynne Truss’s Eats Shoots and Leaves are useful and fun guides, Dreyer’s English provides a more systematic and organized approach.
Benjamin Dreyer has copyedited books by E. L. Doctorow, Frank Rich, and Elizabeth Strout. I found it revealing that Dreyer’s favorite writer is Shirley Jackson. Dreyer worked on Jackson’s Let Me Tell You, a volume of uncollected work by this underrated writer. If you enjoy reading about grammar and writing style, you’ll find Dreyer’s English a practical and illuminating tour of the writing process delightful. Highly recommended! GRADE: A
Table of Contents
Introduction: By Way of Introduction xi
Part I The Stuff in the Front 1
Chapter 1 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Your Prose) 3
Chapter 2 Rules and Nonrules 6
Chapter 3 67 Assorted Things to Do (and Not to Do) with Punctuation 20
Chapter 4 1, 2, 3, Go: The Treatment of Numbers 67
Chapter 5 Foreign Affairs 74
Chapter 6 A Little Grammar Is a Dangerous Thing 84
Chapter 7 The Realities of Fiction 102
Part II The Stuff in the Back 127
Chapter 8 Notes on, Amid a List of, Frequently and/or Easily Misspelled Words 129
Chapter 9 Peeves and Crotchets 147
Chapter 10 The Confusables 166
Chapter 11 Notes on Proper Nouns 210
Chapter 12 The Trimmables 242
Chapter 13 The Miscellany 252
Outro: By Way of Conclusion 267
Things I Like 269
Acknowledgments 271
Index 279
George, I plan to buy this book, though I’d have preferred a paperback edition for easy storage. I don’t think there is one. I have a few grammar and style books on my shelves, which I read as a reference. By that I mean I don’t read the books cover to cover.
Prashant, DREYER’S ENGLISH is a browser’s delight! I did read the book cover to cover, but I plan to go back and reread parts.
I hope he believes in using the Oxford comma. The lack of it in contemporary writing drives me nuts!
Deb, yes, Dreyer believes in the Oxford comma. I believe in it, too.
Does he believe at all in the evolution of grammar and language. I think it must evolve to some extent over time.
Patti, Dreyer’s approach to grammar and style is flexible. He points out how many “rules of grammar” have changed. One of my favorite stories in DREYER’S ENGLISH involves a story about two women at a party and whether a sentence can end in a preposition…or not. Very funny!
I knew Deb would be interested. Bill Crider was a big proponent of the Oxford comma too.
Jeff, Benjamin Dreyer has been all over TV and radio doing interviews about DREYER’S ENGLISH. It’s selling well and I enjoyed it!