Online sensation Grammar Girl makes grammar fun and easy in this New York Times bestseller
Are you stumped by split infinitives? Terrified of using “who” when a “whom” is called for? Do you avoid the words “affect” and “effect” altogether?
Grammar Girl is here to help!
Mignon Fogarty, a.k.a. Grammar Girl, is determined to wipe out bad grammar—but she’s also determined to make the process as painless as possible. A couple of years ago, she created a weekly podcast to tackle some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. The podcasts have now been downloaded more than twenty million times, and Mignon has dispensed grammar tips on Oprah and appeared on the pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.
Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing covers the grammar rules and word-choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. From “between vs. among” and “although vs. while” to comma splices and misplaced modifiers, Mignon offers memory tricks and clear explanations that will help readers recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Chock-full of tips on style, business writing, and effective e-mailing, Grammar Girl’s print debut deserves a spot on every communicator’s desk.
Mignon Fogarty is the creator of Grammar Girl and founder of the Quick and Dirty Tips Network. A technical writer and entrepreneur, she has served as an editor and producer at a number of health and science Web sites. She has a B.A. in English from the University of Washington in Seattle and an M.S. in biology from Stanford University. She lives in Reno, Nevada.
In 2007, Mignon Fogarty, perhaps better known as Grammar Girl, created a weekly podcast to tackle some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. Her concise lessons aim to teach, or refresh, grammar knowledge as simply as possible. The podcasts have now been downloaded more than seven million times, and Fogarty has dispensed grammar tips on Oprah and appeared on the pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility for which the podcasts are known, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing covers the grammar rules and word-choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. Her tips include stylistic choices, business writing, and effective e-mailing. From “between vs. among” and “although vs. while” to comma splices and misplaced modifiers, Fogarty offers memory tricks and clear explanations that will help readers recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing is also available on CD as an unabridged audiobook, read by the author. Please email academic@macmillan.com for more information.
Mignon Fogarty, perhaps better known as Grammar Girl, has compiled her concise lessons aimed to teach, or refresh, grammar knowledge as simply as possible. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility for which her weekly online podcasts are known, Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing covers the grammar rules and word-choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. Her tips include stylistic choices, business writing, and effective e-mailing.
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I didn't have expectations about this book from the podcast because I only discovered Grammar Girl a few days before the book was released. I like books about usage, and I enjoyed this one. It's organized in chapters of related usage problems and the rules for the most frequent cases. For many issues, the book gives not only the right way to do it, but demonstrates common wrong ways too, and clearly labels them so you won't pick up the wrong way if you're skimming. Many of the entries include memory devices to help you remember what to do next time. The drawings and examples were cute, but sometimes the references to Squiggly and Aardvark felt like inside jokes, but fortunately not to the point where I felt like the joke was on me. I didn't know if there were personalities for the characters that would have given me a deeper understanding of the examples they demonstrated, or if they were just generic illustrations. The voice is consistent, and the delivery is short and sweet, or as the author puts it, quick and dirty. Nothing is belabored that shouldn't be, but each issue is adequately covered for most situations. If an item is controversial, the book mentions the controversy and gives an overview of the major arguments. Matters of style are also identified, even if the author has a strong preference for a particular way. The last chapter, "Work It," is an unusual chapter for a usage book, and especially valuable. It gives writer-oriented tips for interviewing people, generating ideas, fighting writer's block, and proofreading. Some of the tips it gives are excellent, and in the right situation, may make the difference between success and failure. I would love to see that chapter expanded into a book of its own.
Who needs another book on grammar? Well, to be candid, most of us. We all struggle with the usual problems like lie vs. lay, affect vs. effect, and where to insert commas. In terms of these basic grammar questions, Mignon delivers the goods. In the guise of Grammar Girl she provides simple, memorable lessons in ... well ... grammar. The book is more than just a grammar guide. Go back and read the full title. Go ahead. I'll wait. You see the part that says "For Better Writing"? That's the real meat of this book. Mignon isn't some dusty academic who wants to put you in your place and make you feel inferior when you misuse a semi-colon. She's a talented writer who wants to help you improve your writing. Tucked in among the tips are dozens of ways to make your writing stronger and more engaging. She even covers writing for blogs and Twitter. Last century we had Strunk and White as guides. This century we have Mignon.
Do you need to write a report or memo and don't want to look like a semi-literate goon in front of your boss or client? Get yourself this book. It does exactly what it claims to do: it offers you quick and dirty answers to your most vexing questions. It is not Lapsing into a Comma or Eats, Shoots and Leaves so if you're looking for long but elegantly phrased explanations you are not going to find it here. The author has given the reader a neat, well written tool for home or work and it's all you really need for correspondence that has to be right the first time.
For what it's worth I definitely consider myself to be in ongoing need of exactly this kind of assistance! I've enjoyed the Grammar Girl podcast since its early days and was quite pleased to find the exact same kind of approachable, easy to digest help in er new book! The tips are clear and concise, effectively driving home the point at hand. Now that we have the book, I can spread the word to the people in my life who will most likely never hear the podcast.
This book brings together a lot of useful information in a very readable format. How many grammar books would you read from cover to cover, for fun and self-improvement? This one makes it easy and fun to do just that. If you're a person who is constantly annoyed by the grammatical mistakes you see all around you, you'll enjoy this book. Maybe you can purchase it as a gift for a relative/friend/coworker who struggles with the issues addressed here. It can also serve as a handy reference. On the other hand, if you're never sure when to use "affect" or "effect," or you would like to improve your language skills for business emails and other written communications, this book will help.
Friedman is brilliant. He’s got an amazing way of synthesizing massive amounts...
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