I just chuckled to myself, knowing that if any of them came close I could brain them with my lethally massive new hardcover Garner's, and then point out some finer points of American usage while the ungrammatical would-be. I poke around in this massive volume, read Garner's brilliant little mini-essays about usage, and a warm, geeky feeling blooms in my chest. He commended Garner's stance on the linguistic descriptivism versus prescriptivism issue that lexicographers (dictionary writers) face. In addition, it contains essays about the English language. Bryan Garner has a specific approach to language usage and Garner’s Modern English Usage, the fourth edition of his usage advice, teaches it to others. There are three books I use virtually every day: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), and Garner's Modern American Usage. We’d love your help. This is the only book you will ever need. An excellent prescriptivist resource for the careful writer — one who strives to produce high-quality prose — is Garner’s Modern American Usage. Garner's Modern American Usage. It was first published in 1998 as A Dictionary of Modern American Usage, with a focus on American English, which it retained for the next two editions as Garner's Modern American Usage (GMAU). Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage was to the 20th. Welcome back. It offers pragmatic, evidence-based advice on idiomatic writing. Plus easy-to-understand solutions written by experts for thousands of other textbooks. This work is the best current usage guide to good English and may be the greatest usage guide ever written. Books Pics is a cool site that allows you to download fresh books and magazines for free. The first edition was published in 1998 as A Dictionary of Modern American Usage, and released in an abridged, paperback edition in 2000 as The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style. beyond that, i can't say much more beyond DFW's. I teach rhetoric and tell all my students: "If this book becomes a trusted, frequently consulted, lifelong friend to you, I shall count my time as your professor a success." Since first appearing in 1998, Garners Modern American Usage has established itself as the preeminent guide to the effective use of the English language. By Tim Rogers Published in FrontBurner June 15, 2010 10:12 am SMS. Garner’s Modern American Usage Goes Online. With more than 23,500 copies sold, this witty, accessible, and engaging book has become the new classic reference work praised by professional copyeditors as well as the general public looking for clear advice on how to write more effectively. The first edition of Garner's Modern American Usage established Bryan Garner as ''an American equivalent of Fowler'' (Library Journal). Novelist David Foster Wallace said, "The fact of the matter is that Garner's dictionary is extremely good .... Its format ... includes entries on individual words and phrases and expostulative small-cap .mw-parser-output span.smallcaps{font-variant:small-caps}.mw-parser-output span.smallcaps-smaller{font-size:85%}mini-essays. I haven't been reading this book in the morning so I'm taking it off my list of book currently reading. Handy for editors and authors, teachers and students who use this book. It delights while providing instruction on skillful, persuasive, and vivid writing. With thousands of succinct entries, longer essays on key issues and problematic areas, and up-to-the-minute judgments on everything from trendy words to the debate over personal pronouns, GMAU is approachable yet authoritative. Garner's dictionary is prescriptive in aiming to uphold good English usage, but also concedes to variant forms and usage errors that are so widespread that there is no lexicographical hope of changing them. He is author of the acclaimed Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage. Michael Quinion of WorldWideWords.org said in his review[2] that usage guides "row a course against the current of modern lexicography and linguistics", which are descriptive fields that often fail to "meet the day-to-day needs of those users of English who want to speak and write in a way that is acceptable to educated opinion.” Quinion opined that Garner lays down rules without falling victim to "worn-out shibboleths or language superstitions". Use it; it'll make you happy. To send a message to Bryan Garner, email him at: bgarner@lawprose.org. Garner is the expert on standard, modern English grammar and usage. Garner is to the 21st century what H.W. The first edition of Garner's Modern American Usage established Bryan Garner as "an American equivalent of Fowler" (Library Journal). Could not live without it. Thanks, Dan! Roll over Fowler; tell Partridge the news... Quite simply the most current and comprehensive book of rhetoric. Garner's Modern American Usage, Third Edition, is comprehensive, clear, and well organized. This is my go-to guide on all language questions. No, I did not read this cover to cover; I read only the “essay entries” that are listed in the front of the book. It covers issues of usage, pronunciation, and style, from distinctions among commonly confused words and phrases and notes on how to prevent verbosity and obscurity. In particular, this review is not zero stars. I teach rhetoric and tell all my students: "If this book becomes a trusted, frequently consulted, lifelong friend to you, I shall count my time. I call it my "smarty-pants book.". Since first appearing in 1998, Garner's Modern American Usage has established itself as the preeminent guide to the effective use of the English language. An essential reference for the question "am I using this word correctly? Hah hah! Chicago Manual of Style, take note on ease of use. *You will get your 1st month of Bartleby for FREE when you bundle with these textbooks where solutions are available ($9.99 if sold separately.) "Garner's Modern American Usage" is this oustanding work's second edition, now retitled after its author in view of the acclaim that the first edition earned. From cliches to the em dash to quotation marks, you can quickly find the answer by page number. every true pedant ought acquire and become intimate with a copy. It’s the book people turn to when they need guidance on grammar or style: the most comprehensive A–Z guide on editorial questions of every kind. This was followed by something of a companion volume, The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation (Chicago University Press, May 2016), Garner's major expansion of his chapter on the topic in the last several editions of The Chicago Manual of Style. The author encourages editors to simply mark the text they are editing with a key in this book. Garner's Modern American Usage, Third Edition, is comprehensive, clear, and well organized. Here, snipped from the Garner's Usage Tip of the Day email: An indispensable reference work for writers and other grammar nerds. Another first in this edition is the panel of He fills the void left by modern dictionaries and guides that are too squeamish to give sound advice on speaking and writing good Standard English. I expect I will be referring to this book on a regular basis; it’s useful and an impressive piece of scholarship. It was expanded to cover English more broadly in the 2016 fourth edition, under the present title. It was expanded to cover English more broadly in the 2016 fourth edition, under the present title. Receiving this book justified my having dragged myself out last night, and made the long G-to-the-A trek home totally bearable, even the part at the end when I was walking home from the train and a group of guys yelled out that they wanted to gang rape me. This work is the best current usage guide to good English and may be the greatest usage guide ever written. Garner is to the 21st century what H.W. In addition, it contains essays about the English language. The first edition of Garner's Modern American Usage established Bryan Garner as "an American equivalent of Fowler" (Library Journal). Garners Modern American Usage 3rd Edition by Bryan Garner available in Hardcover on Powells.com, also read synopsis and reviews. [2] A third edition was published under that title in August 2009. Published to great acclaim in 1998, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage quickly became a classic reference work, establishing Bryan Garner as the “American equivalent of Fowler” (Library Journal). I can't image writing and editing, esp. An abridged version of the first edition was also published as The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style in 2000. Garner explains the nuances of grammar and vocabulary with thoroughness, finesse, and wit. Other critics, including John Simon, William Safire, Bill Walsh, and Barbara Wallraff, have praised the book's clear, simple, and nuanced guidance. Garrison Keillor has called Garner's Modern American Usage one of the five most influential books in his library. With more than 23,500 copies sold, this witty, accessible, and engaging book has become the new classic reference work praised by professional copyeditors as well as the general public looking for clear advice on how to write more effectively. He discourages whatever is slovenly, pretentious, or pedantic. Buy Garner's Modern American Usage by Bryan Garner online at Alibris. Buy a cheap copy of Garner's Modern American Usage book by Bryan A. Garner. The work covers issues … Additionally, it's more entertaining to read than a considerable amount of fiction works. Despite the change in title, it’s called the fourth edition. my date was pissed off, but Mssr. Alas, Garner’s Modern American Usage is no more. In 2003, the second full edition was published under the title Garner's Modern American Usage, with one-third more content than the original edition. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Shop now. For a profile of Bryan Garner, check out the Dallas Observer.. View Garner’s Modern American Usage and Bryan Garner’s other works here.. For a guide to the Language-Change Index, click here.. Never miss an Oxford sale. Over 6000 entriesWith more than a thousand new entries and more than 2,300 word-frequency ratios, the magisterial fourth edition of Garner’s Modern English Usage reflects usage lexicography at its finest. "Garner's Modern American Usage" is this oustanding work's second edition, now retitled after its author in view of the acclaim that the first edition earned. writers, readers and the absolutely incurably aggressively nerdy. We’ve talked in this space before about Bryan Garner… It has been replaced by Garner’s Modern English Usage. In 1999, Choice magazine named it an Outstanding Academic Book and the American Library Association dubbed it an Outstanding Reference Source. Receiving this book justified my having dragged myself out last night, and made the long G-to-the-A trek home totally bearable, even the part at the end when I was walking home from the train and a group of guys yelled out that they wanted to gang rape me. It's like a box of bon-bons if you like this sort of thing. Garner's Modern English Usage (GMEU), written by Bryan A. Garner and published by Oxford University Press, is a usage dictionary and style guide (or 'prescriptive dictionary') for contemporary Modern English. Since first appearing in 1998, Garner’s Modern American Usage has established itself as the gold standard for English usage. Garner's Modern American Usage, 3e is the first usage guide ever to incorporate such a language-change index, and the judgments are based both on Garner's own original research in linguistic corpora and on his analysis of hundreds of earlier studies. If they had to state a preference, surely all individuals who ever had occasion to write (be it a memo, love letter, quick e-mail, college essay, or novel) would... Free shipping over $10. I've wanted a copy of this for many years, since hearing. I just chuckled to myself, knowing that if any of them came close I could brain them with my lethally massive new hardcover Garner's, and then point out some finer points of American usage while the ungrammatical would-be gang rapists were sprawled out on the sidewalk, concussed and bleeding.... my best friend Twitch gave me this at trivia 2010-12-26. i promptly brought it home and read, enthralled, until 0545 or so. The hell with Strunk and White. We have new and used copies available, in 2 editions - starting at $5.00. For information on Bryan Garner’s seminars, visit: www.lawprose.org. With more than 23,500 copies sold, this witty, accessible, and engaging book has become the new classic reference work praised by professional copyeditors as well as the general public looking for clear advice on how to write more effectivel. 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