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    The Elements of Style
    The Elements of Style
    The Elements of Style
    Audiobook4 hours

    The Elements of Style

    Written by William Strunk and E. B. White

    Narrated by Frank McCourt

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    The Elements of Style has long been a valued and beloved resource for all writers. Hailed for its directness and clever insight, this unorthodox textbook was born from a professor's love for the written word and perfected years later by one of his students-famed author E.B. White. Ever since its first publication in 1959, writers have turned to this book for its wise and accessible advice. "The work remains a nonpareil: direct, correct, and delightful."-New Yorker
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 18, 2008
    ISBN9781428193802

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    Reviews for The Elements of Style

    4.5/5

    80 ratings51 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Best book on writing I have read so far! concise and easy to understand...

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A classic I first read in college -- one that has informed my work ever since. Its embrace of brevity is admirable, and in the age of the Internet, more relevant than ever.
    • 5/5
      It is beyond me why schools insist on using anything else to teach grammar and style. My current copy is the 12th copy of it that I have had since I had the good fortune to run into it when I was a sophomore in high school.
    • 5/5
      I firmly believe that everyone who plans to attend school past the ninth grade needs to own a copy of this book, and read it cover to cover at least once. It's not exactly a gripping read, but so many common mistakes could be avoided if the general public would at least skim this classic work. And really, it's not as boring as you would think. In fact, some parts are downright amusing.
    • 5/5
      Classic. I remember seeing my first copy in seventh grade English class and thinking what a clever, handy little book. I think I've probably gone through a few copies of my own since then. Other style books may be bigger and cover more complex usage situations, but really, if you have Strunk and White the chances are good you can find an answer to your question.
    • 5/5
      I can see why this is a classic. Short and to the point, this book is must for all writers. This title will be by my side whenever I write. Buy it! Learn it! Master it!
    • 5/5
      If you write anything, for any reason, ever, you should read this book repeatedly. Strunk and White lay out logical, easily-understood rules for clear and effective prose. The rules cover punctuation, parts of speech, sentence and paragraph structure, and spelling, not in exhaustive detail, but in a way that makes it easy to remember. The advice is solid and sound. The book includes a glossary at the end; if you need a refresher on grammatical terminology, start there first and then read the book. Strunk and White assume the reader is conversant in the parts of speech, and I found myself a bit at sea, since the last real grammar instruction I had was in 1992.My edition is the one illustrated by Maira Kalman, and while the illustrations are whimsical and entertaining, they are more or less the visual equivalent of what the book suggests one not do with one's prose. Rarely do they elucidate any point made by the authors; frequently, they are either obscure themselves, or obscure the authors' points. As nice-looking as this edition is, I'd probably go for something less frilly if I ever needed to replace it.If you write, this book should be on your desk. It's concise, engaging, and an excellent resource.
    • 2/5
      This book is famous and well-loved by people who tend to be good writers anyway. Alas, the book's advice is somewhat dubious.
    • 4/5
      A book so useful that I own two copies of it - one for home and one for the office. Yet there seems to be an almost universal misconception about this book - actually, there seem to be two misconceptions about this book, and everyone seems to have one or the other firmly entrenched in their mind, and disparages all heretics who take the opposing view. Sort of like modern politics.The first misconception is that this book of rules is a blueprint that the authors require to be imposed on all who dare to write. The partisans of this view, like dissenters attacking the King James Bible, take great delight in pointing to the many violations of these supposedly inviolable rules by the authors themselves.The second misconception, held with equal ferocity, is that this book in fact *is* the Bible of writing and anyone who writes must follow it or be damned. Apparently, for this crowd, if one wishes to use a keyboard or lift a pencil, one must first apply for a license to do so by purchasing a copy of this book.Anyone who bothers to actually read the book (as opposed to simply turning the pages in an effort to discredit it or to dispatch an heretical adversary) would quickly see that neither of these orthodoxies is correct. The book is simply an enunciation of principles designed to improve the writing of the average person who must write - nothing more and nothing less. "'It is an old observation," White quotes Strunk in his introduction to the Third Edition, "that the best writers sometimes disregard the rules of rhetoric. When they do so, however, the reader will usually find in the sentence some compensating merit, attained at the cost of the violation. Unless he is certain of doing as well, he will probably do best to follow the rules." Clearly, even in Strunk and White's view, the orthodoxy can be challenged, if done well. But the person who is not as strong or confident a writer should hew to the mainstream.This then, is the audience to whom Strunk and White addressed themselves - the mainstream, not the professional writer. One of the most useful axioms about writing ever taught to me came not from this book but from my Legal Writing professor at Notre Dame. The first rule, she taught, is know who your audience is. That should also be the first rule in evaluating this book. For if it is evaluated as a tool to improve the writing of the average reader, then it is admirably designed. It is concise, easily digested, and a generally accurate guide.But those who review a book like this are usually not average readers - they are voracious readers and writers, and while they, too, can benefit from this little book (one should not venture off the highway without a map to guide you back when necessary), they are not its principle audience, and should lay down the implements of inquisition and consider the book for what it is - a guide, not a Bible.
    • 5/5
      A short, easy-to-read book that anyone who wants to use the written word to communicate with anyone else should take to heart and memorize. It isn't hard and it covers the basics -- where the punctuation goes and why, what are the essential parts of constructing a sentence, how to avoid bloated, nonsensical paragraphs -- it's all there. And it isn't all that long. The whole book has less than 200 pages and a LOT Of white space, so this is no daunting challenge. It can be read in under 2 hours, even if you take notes. It is easy to mark for future reference, too, if you forget something (and no points taken off for checking before using that semicolon).

      I recall during my not-short-enough stint as a professional proofreader that I often wanted to throw copies of this book at the authors and line editors when I found dozens of comma splices, run-on-sentences, verbless sentences, senseless constructions, and repetitive word use (we will just skip the whole "passive verb" thing for now -- I realize that's more of an addiction and requires a 12-step program, sort of like ellipses addiction and apostrophe abuse) in work that was supposed to be heading for the printer. This book can't save you from typos, but it can help you avoid full-out, no-excuse errors.

      Reading this book will not make you a grammar Nazi. It will not make you appear strange to your friends, give you understanding of Ezra Pound, or make your walk into the waves like Virginia Woolf. It will save you some embarrassment and stop people who judge you on your writing (like me) from rolling their eyes at you.
    • 3/5
      This is a great pocket style guide almost. It covers all of the basics and is good for looking up quick writing references. It is not nearly complete so it is only good for general information.
    • 5/5
      One of the best books on writing fiction.
    • 5/5
      A fantastic resource: simple yet exhaustive, in the best sense of the word. A must-have, must-read, must-consult-often for any writer.
    • 5/5
      a classic guide to clarity in writing. Strunk and White steer a course towards clean, lean writing that clearly communicates its purpose. While little or nothing in the book seems wrong, it fails only in that it is not extensive enough.
    • 4/5
       This is one of the most important reference books for any student to own. I used it frequently during my college days, even still pull it down from the shelf from time to time. To the point, clearly written, it really is the perfect guide to writing.
    • 5/5
      A must have for anyone serious about writing.
    • 2/5
      The most important thing that I learnt from this book is that whatever I write, I could do so in half the words, with double the impact.So, here's the rub. I'm verbose. I love long words and even longer sentences (back when word processors started to include things like readability indexes and grammar checkers, the one thing they always said was 'your sentences are too long'!). And, thanks to this book, now I know why!This book is probably most useful to those who take a journalistic bent to their writing, but it can also help people like me who need to knock the corners off their writing.
    • 4/5
      The classic reference for writing style. Often useful.
    • 1/5
      Sadly, a must have for writers of thesis' and disertations.
    • 5/5
      The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White is a classic that should be in every writer's library. It is full of good guidance, practical examples, and useful advice. More than just a reference book it should be reread at least once a year.
    • 5/5
      If you write ANYTHING...you need this book!
    • 5/5
      The Bible of writing. In fact, more Library Thing members have this Bible than the King James Bible. I checked.
    • 5/5
      A must have for any who consider themselves or aspire to be a writer... even those who wish to write "creatively" should know Strunk and White's rules by heart before they set about breaking them in the name of art.
    • 5/5
      The best book of it's kind, ever. Wins on substance, personality, and ease-of-putting-in-your-pocket. If you don't own this book then you should.
    • 4/5
      Is this a flawed book?Of course. The style of prose it advocates was already out of date when it was published. It presents the taste of its authors' as inviolable laws, leading to painful contortions in the written language of those who try to follow it.As the previous sentence indicates, even in matters of simple punctuation I do not agree with The Elements of Style.And yet much of the advice is still solid. Even if you disagree with Strunk and White, it is better to have consciously rejected a rule than to have never considered the matter. There is also a surprising playfulness with language that appears between dour pronunciations. This side of The Elements of style was unknown to me prior to reading it, seemingly having been missed by both its detractors and fanatics.
    • 5/5
      Goes right to the basics with excellent ideas and examples.
    • 4/5
      The Elements of Style, or as some colloquially have called it "Strunk and White," is a style book originally written by William Strunk, and then subsequently modified by E. B. White. It act, today, as the primordial style book upon which more modern style books are based.It's still worth a read, as it won't take up that much more time to review. My copy, which had eye-chart style text, was about 50 pages. A more readable copy may be closer to 100. Still, that's small potatoes with respect to reading books. In fact, you may have already read this book if you've taken any of most American high school composition classes.If you have been looking to improve your writing, and not make it seem too simplistic, yet at the same time, not make it seem too pompous, then this is an excellent place to start. However, my personal recommendation is to read every single notable style book you can get your hands on, so that you may take all these recommendations into account before developing your own, unique, style.
    • 1/5
      Another review gave links to discussions by linguists on this book. You should read what people who have made their living studying language have to say about Strunk and White. Strunk and White can't even follow their own advice well. In one instance they say not to use the passive voice unless it is necessary, and yet in the first hundred sentences in their book, they use the passive 21 times, and none of them because it was necessary. E.B. White is a wonderful author, but if you read Charlotte's Web, he is consistantly breaking his own rules. If he can't follow them, why should you?If you really want to learn how to write well, practice writing. Read the classics, and study how the masters write. Don't let the blind lead the blind.
    • 4/5
      Excellent, if a bit stodgy at moments.
    • 5/5
      Whenever I write (this line included), I make use of something I read in this book.