a book

The Elements of Style

Name: The Elements of Style
Rating: 5 (6 reviews)
Author: William Strunk, Jr., Maira Kalman and E.B. White
ISBN: 9781940177489

William Strunk, Jr., Maira Kalman and E.B. White · 1999 · 70 pages

"No book in shorter space, with fewer words, will help any writer more than this persistent little volume." - The Boston Globe You know the author's name. You recognize the title. The advice of Strunk is as valuable today as when it was first offered. This book has conveyed the principles of English style to millions of readers. Use "the little book" to make a big impact with writing.

recommended by 6 people

sourced from public statements

Bill Nye
“This is my guide. I accept that I’ll never write anything as good as the introductory essay by E.B. White. It’s brilliant. As a guy, who is often asked to read aloud from radio scripts and teleprompter, I am a fan of the serial comma. Red, white, and blue comes out properly. Red, white and blue, seldom does.”↗
Ben Affleck
“I, like many, initially chafed at Strunk and White’s ideas. Once I accepted that you had to learn the rules before you could break them, I set about what would become the oddly comforting task of getting to understand the true and ordered nature of the universe of writing. Perhaps the best thing in the book was what it taught (or tried to teach) me not to do. Their caution against overwriting, overstating, injecting opinions, and going on at length (I’m in serious danger of it here, in fact) was sorely needed.”↗
David Heinemeier Hansson
Kara Swisher
Tobi Lütke
Ann Handley