The Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference
by Gary Lutz and Diane Stevenson
Writer’s Digest Books, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1-59963-220-9
ISBN-10: 1-59963-220-9
ISBN-10: 1-59963-220-9
$19.99 paperback, 368 pages
Learn how to identify and properly use adjectives and avoid errors.
About the Book
The Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference is the comprehensive resource on grammar and usage, a necessity for every writer’s desk. It presents balanced instruction and real-world examples that will ensure professional and flawless work on every occasion.
There are some principles of usage I thought I’d never understand. This book has proven me wrong. Clear, illuminating, and comprehensive—this is a must-have resource for grammarians and laymen, alike.
—Fiona Maazel, author of Last Last Chance and former managing editor of The Paris Review
For those who believe the soul is at stake when utterance is at stake, there can be no more saving engagement than that which offers itself within. Huzzah for heroes Lutz and Stevenson! Medals at the ready, please.
—Gordon Lish, former editor of Esquire and Alfred A. Knopf and author of over a dozen books
Some people—not a few linguists and high-school English teachers among them—foolishly believe that grammar matters not at all. Let them read The Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference, which, with an explanation that is cogent, a treatment that is thorough, and examples that are telling, makes it plain that grammar matters mightily.
—Robert Hartwell Fiske, author of The Dictionary of Concise Writing: More Than 10,000 Alternatives to Wordy Phrases and eight other books and the editor and publisher of The Vocabula Review
The Grammar Desk Reference is an invaluable resource for the writer—or editor!—in any stage of his or her career. Lutz and Stevenson explain the rules clearly, concisely, and entertainingly, with examples from major newspapers and magazines. I’m keeping a copy on my desk.
—Dawn Raffel, Editor at Large, Books at Readers Digest and author of Further Adventures in the Restless Universe, Carrying the Body, and In the Year of Long Division
For a lot of people, using correct grammar is as fun and easy as doing their taxes. And previous grammar books are like the horribly printed guides that the federal government sends out in an attempt to alleviate stress and make the whole process simpler. In The Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference, Gary Lutz and Diane Stevenson revolutionize this foggy world by providing organized, fun, and simple examples we should all consult for years to come.
—Jeff Johnson, copywriter for Bartle Bogle Hegarty
About the Authors
Gary Lutz is the author of the short-story collections Stories in the Worst Way (published in hardcover by Alfred A. Knopf in 1996 and in paperback by 3rd bed in 2002) and I Looked Alive (published by Black Square Editions/Four Walls Eight Windows in 2004). His chapbook, Partial List of People to Bleach, was released by Future Tense Books in 2007. His work has appeared in several anthologies, including The Random House Treasury of Light Verse and The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories. He has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts.
Diane Stevenson is the editor of two collections of newspaper columns by best-selling novelist Carl Hiaasen, Kick Ass: Selected Columns of Carl Hiaasen and Paradise Screwed: Selected Columns of Carl Hiaasen. She has been the recipient of grants from the Ohio Arts Council and the Florida Humanities Council. Her work has appeared in Poetry, The American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. She teaches at the University of Florida.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: Grammar: An Overview
Chapter 1: Nouns and Verbs
Chapter 2: Modifiers and Other Parts of Speech
Chapter 3: Phrases
Chapter 4: Clauses
Part II: Grammar: Rules, Conventions, and Errors to Avoid
Chapter 5: Agreement of Subjects and Verbs
Chapter 6: Other Errors in the Use of Verbs
Chapter 7: Parallelism
Chapter 8: Errors in Modification: Misplaced, Dangling, and Ambiguous Modifiers
Chapter 9: Other Errors in Modification
Chapter 10: Personal Pronouns
Chapter 11: Agreement of Pronouns and Their Antecedents
Chapter 12: Reference of Pronouns
Chapter 13: Faulty Comparisons
Chapter 14: Faulty Predication
Chapter 15: Mishandled Elliptical Constructions
Chapter 16: Two Special Problems with that
Part III: Punctuation: Rules, Conventions, and Errors to Avoid
Chapter 17: Terminal Punctuation Marks
Chapter 18: The Comma
Chapter 19: The Semicolon and the Colon
Chapter 20: Parentheses and Dashes
Chapter 21: The Apostrophe
Chapter 22: Quotation Marks and Italics
Chapter 23: Specialized Punctuation Marks
Chapter 24: The Hyphen
Chapter 25: Punctuating Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences
Part IV: Mechanics and Usage
Chapter 26: Capitalization
Chapter 27: The Presentation of Numbers
Chapter 28: Abbreviations
Chapter 29: Glossary of Commonly Misused Words
Appendix: Subject Guide
Index
