This book is the classic reference text for clear writing and is generally considered a must-have for any student or writer. In this most revered of writing books, Strunk identifies the necessary qualities of proper American English style; and he does it all with wit and grace. Compelling and timeless, this book is simply the best of its kind.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: The best "How to Write" book ever written. Comment: Elements of style--should be required reading for every freshman, high school or college...All of the rules in one tiny book. Customer Rating: Summary: Elements of style - Good reference for any writer to keep around Comment: When going through this book, it became quite evident how much the english language, both spoken and written, has changed in the past 80-90 years. Still much, if not most, of the content is applicable and it is a very good reference. I would agree with the NY Times when they said, "Buy it, study it, enjoy it..." Customer Rating: Summary: Continues to be the best Comment: This book is a wonderful reference for clear and concise writing. It has helped me improved my writing tremendously. One of the reasons why it is so effective is that it gives good examples of bad writing and lets you compare it with the better kind so that you can see the difference between them. The book has been used by many writers in the past, so it gives you the sense that it has truly helped many. Customer Rating: Summary: Decent Desktop Reference for the Student / Professional Comment: Strunk's work is a solid baseline for grammar, punctuation, and composition. If your workplace tends to create its own standards for linguistics, it might be valuable to keep this readily available.
It is somewhat limited in terms of all the possible usages of punctuation, and admits as much in its first pages. While this is a valuable reference for most scenarios, it can't stand alone. Customer Rating: Summary: The print leaves much to be desired. Comment: The book is great, I mean it's a classic but this version looks like it came right off the photo copier of the original print for 100 years ago. It's horribly fussy and the copy spacing is poor. I suggest finding a version by a different publisher.
