Review of Mighty Fine Words and Smashing Expressions: Making Sense of Transatlantic English (Hardcover)

I bought this author's book on London and happened to notice that he wrote this one too, so I picked it up. Glad I did! It's really just what I needed for understanding the ins and outs of British English. Everything is treated by subject matter and I have found the book a real gold mine for trying to figure out just what people are talking about here (in London). The methodical presentation of spelling differences is really informative - it goes a lot deeper than I thought! The chapter on grammar is useful too, and I skipped some of the technical terminology but the examples of usage really told me what I needed to know. And I actually started hearing a lot of this stuff, as soon as I read about it. Spooky! Maybe people were using these constructions all along and I just blanked it out because I didn't really understand everything. All the chapters that treat different subject areas are also laid out well, and I found the one on health and healthcare really helpful in my job; it's mind-blowing how different the NHS is from US healthcare, you really have to learn a whole new vocabulary for dealing with it (I thought surgery was something a doctor did, not a place where he worked!). The chapter about swear words and other language you should avoid is a hoot! And really, the author's sense of humor comes through everywhere; I found myself chuckling all the way through it, at the same time I was learning. Thanks to this book, I can follow a cricket match or read an article about one and actually understand what they're talking about. Who knew that would ever happen? I really recommend this book strongly to any American who deals with, or wants to get better acquainted with British English; it would probably also be useful for Brits trying to understand Yanks.



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Review of Writing Broadcast News, Rev. Ed. (Hardcover)

Ten years ago, I had the privilege of taking introductory radio writing from Mr. Block while earning my master's degree in journalism at Columbia University.If memory serves, Mr. Block also revisited my spring semesterradio news course as a guest editor and instructor.He was a tough andfair instructor -- one of the many highlights of my year at 116th andBroadway.

Mr. Block's book has been indispensible to me ever since. Every so often, I reread a chapter to keep my writing fresh, and to jolt meout of the workaday rut so many reporters and anchors inhabit.Televisionnews works on two levels, the words and the pictures, and it is a challengeand an art to make the two levels work together!

Whether you're ajournalism 101 student or a seasoned professional, it never hurts to havethis book on your desk (and occasionally at home!).Your viewers,producers, photographers, and managers will thank you!



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Review of A Dictionary of Modern American Usage (Hardcover)

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.



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