In writing, style matters. Our favorite writers often entertain, move, and inspire us less by what they say than by how they say it. In The Sound on the Page, acclaimed author, teacher, and critic Ben Yagoda offers practical and incisive help for writers on developing and discovering their own style and voice. This wonderfully rich and readable book features interviews with more than 40 of our most important authors discussing their literary style, including:
Dave Barry Harold Bloom Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Bill Bryson Michael Chabon
In writing, style matters. Our favorite writers often entertain, move, and inspire us less by what they say than by how they say it. In The Sou...
The challenge is great. Despite all the talk about "family values", the family is besieged. The percentage of children living below the poverty line rose 49 percent from 1973 to 1992; American children are less likely to be immunized than those of any other developed nation; and many corporations still lag behind in areas such as maternity leave, while rewarding workers for long hours away from home. Moreover, the skyrocketing divorce rate and boom in the out-of-wedlock birth rate has relegated the "traditional family" to the realm of myth. Against this grim backdrop, Dr. Westheimer sees...
The challenge is great. Despite all the talk about "family values", the family is besieged. The percentage of children living below the poverty line r...
Along with moving personal reflections, Dr. Ruth Westheimer presents passionate, groundbreaking ideas for helping the American family survive. In her own inimitable style, Dr. Westheimer shows that families are under siege, explains why the definition of family is at a historical turning point, and, together with coauthor Ben Yagoda, offers insightful and hopeful ideas for the future.
Along with moving personal reflections, Dr. Ruth Westheimer presents passionate, groundbreaking ideas for helping the American family survive. In her ...
Learn how to be the best journalist you can be with what "could be the world's most readable textbook" (Time Out New York). The Art of Fact is a historical treasury tracing literary journalism back to such pioneers as Defoe, Dickens, and Orwell, and to crime writers, investigative social reporters, and war correspondents who stretched the limits of style and even propriety to communicate powerful truth. Here an extraordinary range of styles--the elegance of Gay Talese, the militance of Marvel Cooke, the station-house cynicism of David Simon, the manic intelligence of Richard...
Learn how to be the best journalist you can be with what "could be the world's most readable textbook" (Time Out New York). The Art of F...
What do you get when you mix nine parts of speech, one great writer, and generous dashes of insight, humor, and irreverence? One phenomenally entertaining language book. In his waggish yet authoritative book, Ben Yagoda has managed to undo the dark work of legions of English teachers and libraries of dusty grammar texts. Not since School House Rock have adjectives, adverbs, articles, conjunctions, interjections, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs been explored with such infectious exuberance. Read If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It and:
Learn how...
What do you get when you mix nine parts of speech, one great writer, and generous dashes of insight, humor, and irreverence? One phenomenally entertai...
In a "superbly researched biography of Will Rogers" ("Los Angeles Times"), "Yagoda offers an utterly thorough, brilliant taking-apart of the unique Rogers persona" ("Kirkus Reviews"). 85 illustrations.
In a "superbly researched biography of Will Rogers" ("Los Angeles Times"), "Yagoda offers an utterly thorough, brilliant taking-apart of the unique Ro...
From Augustine's Confessions to Augusten Burroughs's Running with Scissors, from Julius Caesar to Ulysses S. Grant, from Mark Twain to David Sedaris, the art of memoir has had a fascinating life, and deserves its own biography. "As Yagoda says: 'Memoir has become the central form of the culture: not only the way stories are told, but the way arguments are put forth, products and properties marketed, ideas floated, acts justified, reputations constructed or salvaged. How did we come to this pass? The only way to answer that question is to go back a couple of thousand years and...
From Augustine's Confessions to Augusten Burroughs's Running with Scissors, from Julius Caesar to Ulysses S. Grant, from Mark Twain to D...
Dr Ruth Westheimer is everyone's favourite sex therapist. All in a Lifetime is the memoir of her journey from the horrors of war to the fulfillment of the American dream. The book is as warm, humorous, and candid as Dr Ruth herself.
Dr Ruth Westheimer is everyone's favourite sex therapist. All in a Lifetime is the memoir of her journey from the horrors of war to the fulfillment of...
Ben Yagoda's How to Not Write Bad illustrates how we can all write better, more clearly, and for a wider readership. He offers advice on what he calls "not-writing-badly," which consists of the ability, first, to craft sentences that are correct in terms of spelling, diction (word choice), punctuation, and grammar, and that also display clarity, precision, and grace. Then he focuses on crafting whole paragraphs with attention tocadence, consistency of tone, sentence transitions, and paragraph length. In a fun, comprehensive guide, Yagoda lays out the simple steps we can...
Ben Yagoda's How to Not Write Bad illustrates how we can all write better, more clearly, and for a wider readership. He offers advic...
