Write It Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults

by Ambrose Bierce

Book Overview

Amusing and thought-provoking, this A-to-Z compendium outlines common oral and written gaffes. Ambrose Bierce, a celebrated literary wit, assembled his informative compilation in 1909 from many years of observations and notes. He advocates precision in language, offering alternatives to grammatical lapses and inaccurate word choices.
Moneyed for Wealthy: "The moneyed men of New York." One might as sensibly say, "The cattled men of...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486473104
• ISBN13: 9780486473109
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 80 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Talk about Peevish: Jan Freeman!

The antique charm of nonconformist Bierce is what makes the original version so special. Jan Freeman manages to bloat this edition terribly with her editorial excuses for poor modern usage. One of the most blatant examples is "can for may"; she permits this error, commonly repeated by blockheaded schoolchildren who can't figure out their teacher's correction (i.e., "Can I go to the bathroom?" "MAY I..."), no matter how many times they hear it. Freeman says that this (the teacher's) insistence is "fussy [and] prissy." This is just an example, a good one since it is one so easily correctable. There are numerous others. The problem lies in this oh-that's-just-Bierce-for-ya tone, a tone which permits newscasters to use "Me and so-and-so" in the subjective case. Good (or even decent) writing requires discipline as does . . . well, everything worthwhile. I don't think that Bierce would have found Freeman funny. He is a Name, she is a who's-that?! The sum of her intellectual efforts is: "Well, everybody's doin' it!"

concise

The book is conise. Well written. I haven't read the entire book yet. It seems to have begun as a writing for a newspaper or perhaps a series in a magazine.