This is an amazing book! I use it every single time that I edit anything, and this is one book I don't mind carrying with me to clients' sites. Garner's book has extensive coverage of most aspects of our language,broken down by individual words and phrases; his thorough cross-referencinghelps the user successfully navigate throughout the entire book. Garnerprovides numerous examples of correct and incorrect usage of every wordcovered, and for each incorrect usage, he provides a suggested revision. Ifmore than one variation of a word usage or phrase is possible (e.g.,"different from" vs. "different than"), Garner tells the reader which termor phrase is used more frequently (or is more preferable) under whichcircumstances. It is so refreshing to see a book that provides so manyrewrites instead of just criticizing poor word usage/style; the rewritesalone provide invaluable assistance to the writer and editor alike. To topif off, Garner's writing style is humorous, friendly, and quiteapproachable-not a hint of arrogance or condescension. Garner's upbeat,helpful attitude, along with his citing of many examples of venerablepublications/authors erring in some way, makes it very difficult to feelbad about not knowing the proper usage of some word or phrase. My onlycriticism of his book is that he doesn't cover every single word or phrasethat vexes me-but this is a minor "nit" and doesn't occur often enough todeter me from using his book on a daily basis and recommending his book toall my colleagues.Click Here to see more reviews about: A Dictionary of Modern American Usage (Hardcover)
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