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Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) Paperback – June 15, 1995
byJoseph M. Williams(Author)
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This acclaimed book is a master teacher's tested program for turning clumsy prose into clear, powerful, and effective writing. A logical, expert, easy-to-use plan for achieving excellence in expression,Style offers neither simplistic rules nor endless lists of dos and don'ts. Rather, Joseph Williams explains how to be concise, how to be focused, how to be organized. Filled with realistic examples of good, bad, and better writing, and step-by-step strategies for crafting a sentence or organizing a paragraph,Style does much more than teach mechanics: it helps anyone who must write clearly and persuasively transform even the roughest of drafts into a polished work of clarity, coherence, impact, and personality.
"Buy Williams's book. And dig out from storage your dog-eared old copy ofThe Elements of Style. Set them side by side on your reference shelf."—Barbara Walraff,Atlantic
"Let newcoming writers discover this, and let their teachers and readers rejoice. It is a practical, disciplined text that is also a pleasure to read."—Christian Century
"An excellent book....It provides a sensible, well-balanced approach, featuring prescriptions that work."—Donald Karzenski,Journal of Business Communication
"Intensive fitness training for the expressive mind."—Booklist
(The college textbook version,Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, 9th edition, is available from Longman. ISBN 9780321479358.)
"Buy Williams's book. And dig out from storage your dog-eared old copy ofThe Elements of Style. Set them side by side on your reference shelf."—Barbara Walraff,Atlantic
"Let newcoming writers discover this, and let their teachers and readers rejoice. It is a practical, disciplined text that is also a pleasure to read."—Christian Century
"An excellent book....It provides a sensible, well-balanced approach, featuring prescriptions that work."—Donald Karzenski,Journal of Business Communication
"Intensive fitness training for the expressive mind."—Booklist
(The college textbook version,Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace, 9th edition, is available from Longman. ISBN 9780321479358.)
- Print length226 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
- Publication dateJune 15, 1995
- Dimensions5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
- ISBN-100226899152
- ISBN-13978-0226899152
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
"Telling me to 'Be clear,' " writes Joseph M. Williams inStyle: Toward Clarity and Grace, "is like telling me to 'Hit the ball squarely.' I know that. What I don't know is how to do it." If you are ever going to know how to write clearly, it will be after reading Williams' book, which is a rigorous examination of--and lesson in--the elements of fine writing. With any luck, your clear writing will turn graceful, as well. Though most of us, says Williams, would be happy just to write "clear, coherent, and appropriately emphatic prose," he is not content to teach us just that. He also attempts, by way of example, to determine what constitutes elegant writing.
Despite the proliferation of books in this genre, rarely does one feel so confident in one's instructor. Williams is meticulous and exacting, yet never pedantic. Though he agrees with most of his grammarian colleagues that, generally speaking, the active voice is better than the passive or that the ordinary word is preferable to the fancy, Williams is also quick to assert that there's no sense learning a rule "if all we can do is obey it." And he is most emphatic about the absurdity of prescriptions concerning usage (such as, "Never begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction"). Such rules, he says, "are 'violated' so consistently that, unless we are ready to indict for bad grammar just about every serious writer of modern English, we have to reject as misinformed anyone who would attempt to enforce them."--Jane Steinberg
About the Author
Joseph M. Williams (1933–2008) was professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Chicago and the author ofStyle: Toward Clarity and Grace. He is also coauthor, with Wayne C. Booth and Gregory G. Colomb, of the best-selling guideThe Craft of Research, also published by the University of Chicago Press.
Product details
- Publisher : University of Chicago Press; Later Printing edition (June 15, 1995)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 226 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0226899152
- ISBN-13 : 978-0226899152
- Item Weight : 9.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #830,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,503 inLinguistics Reference
- #2,296 inFiction Writing Reference (Books)
- #421,907 inLiterature & Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Customer reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
104 global ratings
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the writing quality clear, concise, and elegant. They appreciate the style guide as a valuable addition to their library of writing references. However, some customers report issues with the format - it's messed up and low-quality.
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18 customers mention "Writing quality"15 positive3 negative
Customers find the writing clear, concise, and elegant. They appreciate the book's usefulness as a guide to good writing. The historical lessons on the development of the English language are intriguing. It provides tools for writers to navigate through the web of English. Readers find it a good addition to their library of writing references and a quick reference.
"...Simply thebest writing book you can have. Simple techniques, demonstrated so that you can actually see the impact. Not wordy...."Read more
"...pursuing my associates degree and it was animmense help at improving my incredibly poor writing ability...."Read more
"...Additionally, heprovides the tools for writers to navigate through the web of English rules, so they can communicate effectively in their own style...."Read more
"This book, aside from itsvaluable use as a guide to good writing, is a pleasure to read. It is simply an excellent book, an exemplar of clarity...."Read more
6 customers mention "Style"6 positive0 negative
Customers find the style guide elegant and helpful. They say it's the finest they've seen, with an understanding of stylistic techniques that improves writers' performance.
"...Cohesion, Emphasis, Coherence I, Coherence II, Concision, Length,Elegance, and Usage...."Read more
"...Masterful."Read more
"This is thefinest style guide I've ever seen. The others are worthless. Even the later editions of this same book are not as good...."Read more
"...Theunderstanding of stylistic techniques and impacts lifts any writers performance."Read more
3 customers mention "Format"0 positive3 negative
Customers are unhappy with the format of the book. They say it's messed up and low-quality.
"...Theformatting problems are so severe that they cannot be ignored."Read more
"I have never seen such alow-quality format in kindle version. It is almost unreadable."Read more
"Format is all sorts of messed up..."Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2023I’ve used this book for years and just re-purchased it (other one lost in a fire) to give my granddaughter as she goes off to college. Simply the best writing book you can have. Simple techniques, demonstrated so that you can actually see the impact. Not wordy. Even if you just open the book at random, you will see the potential. Anyone who writes even a memo, or a note, will understand the impact these techniques have, and if better writing for business, management, academics, is your goal. This is my recommendation. If you can only have one writing coach/book, get this one. This book is so successful, it has been in print for 50 years all over the world. I bought the used older version (yellow cover) because of price difference, and the older version is the one that made the book, famous, right?
- Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2020I originally grabbed this guide as a student when I was pursuing my associates degree and it was an immense help at improving my incredibly poor writing ability. I carried it through my Bachelor's and now use it regularly when helping my students (6-12) write their own essays and research.
As always make sure you're aware of the style you're writing in, if you don't need Chicago look elsewhere! - Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2016For even the best writers, writing clear and elegant prose can be a challenging and arduous undertaking. For many non-native English speakers, it’s a challenge that can seem insurmountable and so painful that the mind searches for any reprieve. Fortunately, Joseph Williams' latest edition of Style, Toward Clarity and Grace illuminates a path for the lost in search of becoming a better writer.
Williams attempts to transform the content of the book from its root as a college textbook so that it may function for a broader demographic. This book guides the reader through most of the subject matter with great clarity, providing grammatical devices and diagnosing a myriad of examples of good and bad writing. However, the book is not without obstacles for readers who are still trying to grasp the protocols of grammar. The primary area where this book falls short is the lack of development or elaboration of some the technical rules and terminology. Even with these challenges, there are more than enough redeeming factors that make the book a resourceful companion on your path to becoming a better writer.
Williams delivers his principles of Style in ten concise chapters. Each chapter focuses on its respective element: Causes, Clarity, Cohesion, Emphasis, Coherence I, Coherence II, Concision, Length, Elegance, and Usage. The first chapter serves as a brief history lesson of the English language and how that history affected our literature. He does a great job providing examples of “good” and “bad” writing and, more importantly, elaborates on why people might characterize this writing as such. This approach of diagnosing writing examples is repeated as one of Williams’ tools for teaching throughout the chapters. He makes a valiant effort in integrating these elements into a coherent writing system.
Chapters 2 and 3 offered techniques and approaches to identifying and correcting bloated, abstract and incoherent writing. I found these methods to be extremely useful and was able to immediately apply them in my writing. For instance, a simple but effective way to produce a clear sentence is to have the subject of the sentence near the beginning of your sentence and its action verb close by. Even with these great takeaways, I have mixed feelings about these two chapters because I had to reread, Google and consult a tutor to understand some of the technical terminology used to explain some of these concepts. For example, the way Williams delivers concepts like “psychological subjects” and “grammatical subjects” was very confusing. There appeared to be an assumption that the reader understood grammatical subjects. Williams then started to use topic strings to characterize both psychological and grammatical subjects without proper transition. For advanced writers, these issues are trivial and might even be considered concise writing. However, non-native writers need new terminology to be clearly delineated and clearly defined. These issues notwithstanding, the two chapters provide many useful guidelines and reinforce those guidelines with matrix diagrams and summaries of key points at the end of the chapters. In aggregate, these tools will teach you how to identify and correct vague and incoherent writing. Therefore, whatever additional efforts are needed to comprehend the technical jargon in these two chapters, the return is well worth the effort.
While the last two chapters teach the fundamental elements of constructing a sentence and conjoining them into a cohesive paragraph, Chapter 4 teaches you where to place key information in your writing. For example, by placing new and important information towards the end of a sentence you naturally signal that information as your stress points. Additionally, Williams ties in all the elements from previous chapters into one complete system illustrated with the matrix table. However, if you were casually reading and not taking notes, expecting a summary at the end of the chapter, you would be disappointed because it’s not there! The synopsis at the end the previous chapters does (do) such a great job reinforcing pertinent concepts, which makes it perplexing why Williams discontinues its use.
If the early chapters provided concepts and guidelines to write grammatically correct sentences and paragraphs, Coherence I and Coherence II provide the tools to diagnose your writing. Williams prefaces in the opening paragraph that he’ll be introducing new jargon to teach the principles of coherence. However, he does a poor job defining, developing and placing these new concepts. Similar to the problems in chapters 2 & 3, Williams introduces vocabulary like “topic and thematic strings” without clearly defining each concept and how they are used together to establish a cohesive prose. This ambiguity left me unsure of the difference between these two concepts. With topic stings, Williams only provides one example instead of his customary breakdown of multiple writing examples to make sure the subject is fully explained. Interestingly enough, Williams espouses the importance of proper development and placement of new technical terms and concepts in previous chapters. In a way, it’s refreshing to know that even advanced writers can be off their game sometimes.
Now, if you have a problem, like I do, with rambling on and being redundant, Concision will be an extremely impactful chapter for you. This chapter will provide you with the tools to diagnose your writing so that each word earns its place. Chapter 8 on Length simplified the various devices that are used to extend a sentence. Devices such as Resumptive, Summative and Free modifiers are just a few of the subjects this chapter will teach to inject sophistication into your writing. I have used some of these tools in my writing before, but now I understand the rules behind them. Understanding the various usage rules, I use these devices with confidence to produce long and complex sentences.
The guidance in the last two chapters may be too subjective and anecdotal to be valuable for ESL readers. Just like the rest of the book, there is a myriad of great examples and he breaks down the information gracefully. However, for a non-native speaker there needs to be consistency in what is proper and improper use, not subjectivity. For example, Williams notes a rule that you should not begin a sentence with coordinating conjunctions but goes on to provide writings where it’s acceptable in certain circumstances. Additionally, Williams repeats the theme of using your intuition and discretion when it comes to breaking grammatical rules to produce writing that suits your purpose. While this may sound reasonable, this subjectivity for the novice writer can be very confusing. Beginning writers want facts and rules they can adhere to. Imagine if you’re just learning basic arithmetic to then suddenly be told to use those principles to work out the solution for a linear algebra equation. I bet you would get many blank stares. The same applies here.
Overall, Mr. Williams delivers on his main objective for this book, which is to clearly explain how writers can improve their style and flow. Additionally, he provides the tools for writers to navigate through the web of English rules, so they can communicate effectively in their own style. However, don’t expect this book to be a panacea for all your struggles with writing. No single book, class or resource will accomplish that feat. Only continuous practice and the iterative process of writing will ease the hopelessness of producing a prose you can live with. - Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2018This book, aside from its valuable use as a guide to good writing, is a pleasure to read. It is simply an excellent book, an exemplar of clarity. I am reading this slowly; I read a portion, stop, reflect on the point being made and inevitably wonder at how clear and enjoyable the writing is. Masterful.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2020Excellent book for writers & communicators. I will be looking for similar books
- Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2019I bought a used version. The quality was as expected, but it could have been cheaper.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2022This is the finest style guide I've ever seen. The others are worthless. Even the later editions of this same book are not as good.
Unfortunately, the Kindle version of this text is unreadable. The formatting problems are so severe that they cannot be ignored. - Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2014I won't say that I have given it a thorough read just yet, but I have read enough to be able to say that this is a VERY interesting read.
Historic lessons on the development of the English language are intriguing, and the examples given are very insightful about how to develop comprehensible prose; even at the beginning, the stark contrast of clarity between examples of well and "poorly" written prose will leave you surprised.
Top reviews from other countries
- SashaReviewed in Canada on December 27, 2022
5.0 out of 5 starsAbsolute must for students
All I need to say is that I’ve received an A on every single paper I’ve written since reading this book (so far). It honestly is great. It’s extremely clear and actually tells you HOW to write clearly instead of just telling you to write clearly. I will be returning to this book frequently to continue to improve my writing. - Tracey KennedyReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 12, 2023
5.0 out of 5 starsArrived earlier than expected
My 13 year old is using this, it was recommended by her teacher, for advanced students - さくらさくらReviewed in Japan on July 20, 2006
4.0 out of 5 starsネイティブ向け
文章をいかに明確に書くか、という視点に立って、コマコマと気をつけるべきポイントを挙げてくれる。特に難しい本ではないので、英語上級者にとってはよい参考書になるだろう。
ただし、第二言語学習者を念頭においているわけではないので、例文が非常にアメリカ的だったり、第二言語話者の躓きやすいポイントに触れていなかったりする。これはそもそもの目的が違うので仕方がないのだけれど。
というわけで、これ一冊で英語の文章が上達するわけではない。が、古典的な名著であることに違いはない。 - Dixy,S.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2014
5.0 out of 5 starsAs the name suggests.
Improving upon a cumbersome writing is a task does not come easily. Reading grammar books does not solve this issue. This book does not have daunting grammar rules, but the explanations flow through that are easy to comprehend- and possibly to follow. - Savvy shopperReviewed in Canada on March 22, 2021
5.0 out of 5 starsA Writer's "Must Have"
A critical guideline to writing academic work. This book helped me to open up my potential to writing and research, as well as coordinating my thoughts in a cohesive and concise manner.
