Dreyer's English

Authoritative as it is amusing this book distills everything Benjamin Dreyer has learned from the hundreds of books he has copyedited including works by Elizabeth Strout E. L. Doctorow and Frank Rich into a useful guide not just for writers but for everyone who wants to put their best foot forward in writing prose. Dreyer offers lessons on the ins and outs of punctuation and grammar including how to navigate the words he calls 'the confusables ' like tricky homophones; the myriad ways to use (and misuse) a comma; and how to recognize -- though not necessarily do away with -- the passive voice. (Hint: If you can plausibly add 'by zombies' to the end of a sentence it's passive.) People are sharing their writing more than ever -- on blogs on Twitter -- and this book lays out clearly and comprehensibly everything writers can do to keep readers focused on the real reason writers write: to communicate their ideas clearly and effectively. Chock-full of advice insider wisdom and fun facts on the rules (and nonrules) of the English language.