Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English

(Paperback)

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A revised and updated edition of the iconic grammar guide for the 21st century. A revised and updated edition of the iconic grammar guide for the 21st century. In this expanded and updated edition of Woe Is I, former editor at The New York Times Book Review Patricia T. O'Conner unties the knottiest grammar tangles with the same insight and humor that have charmed and enlightened readers of previous editions for years. With fresh insights into the rights, wrongs, and maybes of English grammar and usage, O'Conner offers in Woe Is I down-to-earth explanations and plain-English solutions to the language mysteries that bedevil all of us. "Books about English grammar and usage are... never content with the status quo," O'Conner writes. "That's because English is not a stay-put language. It's always changing--expanding here, shrinking there, trying on new things, casting off old ones... Time doesn't stand still and neither does language." In this fourth edition, O'Conner explains how the usage of an array of words has evolved. For example, the once-shunned "they," "them," and "their" for an unknown somebody is now acceptable. And the battle between "who" and "whom" has just about been won, O'Conner says (hint- It wasn't by "whom"). Then there's the use of "taller than me" in simple comparisons, instead of the ramrod-stiff "taller than I." "May" and "might," "use to" and "used to," abbreviations that use periods and those that don't, and the evolving definition of "unique" are all explained here by O'Conner. The result is an engaging, up-to-date and jargon-free guide to every reader's questions about grammar, style, and usage for the 21st century.

Reviews

Lighthearted and funny . . . Its like Strunk and White combined with S. J. Perelmannone of whom would have had the slightest objection. The New York Times Book Review

Possibly the most popular book on grammar ever published. Writers.com

Extraordinary . . . Im keeping this book by my keyboard. The Philadelphia Inquirer

Invigorating and entertaining . . . As vital as a dictionary for those who wish to be taken seriously in speech, in print, or on Facebook. Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A nifty guidebook to modern grammar that affectionately elbows the reader on every page. San Francisco Chronicle

Author Bio

Patricia T. O'Conner, a former editor at The New York Times Book Review, has writen for many magazines and newspapers, and is a popular blogger and radio and TV commentator. She is the author of four other books on language and writing, Words Fail Me, Woe Is I Jr., and, with Stewart Kellerman, You Send Me and Origins of the Specious- Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language. She lives in Florida.