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Product Description: Fowler's Modern English Usage is the world-famous guide to English usage, loved and used by writers of all kinds. In keeping with its long tradition, Fowler's gives comprehensive and practical advice on grammar, syntax, style, and choice of words. It gives a clear and authoritative picture of the English we use, and elucidates many scores of usage questions such as the split infinitive and the intricacies of political correctness. It gives in-depth coverage of both British and American English with reference to the English of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa. The volume includes wide-ranging examples of usage from a broad selection of newspapers, journals, and books from across the globe, and features illustrative quotations from authors such as Agatha Christie, Chinua Achebe, Iris Murdoch, Harold Pinter, and Noel Coward.
Based on the evidence and research of the Oxford Dictionaries Program, this is the most comprehensive and authoritative guide to usage available. The third edition of 1996 provided a complete revision and an expansion of the original text, bringing the book fully up to date on all matters of grammar, usage, syntax, and style. This is a reissue of the revised third edition of 1998, which includes a new Supplement and revised entries. Replaces isbn 0198602634. Amazon.com: For generations, lovers of the English language have turned to trusty copies of Fowler's to settle nagging grammatical questions, or, for true hard-core language junkies, for the sheer fun of reading H. W. Fowler's classic outrage contained in entries on "Hackneyed Phrases" or "Pedantic-Humour Words." The New Fowler's Modern English Usage, the first revision in more than 30 years, has not arrived without controversy. Some language (and Fowler) purists complain that the book is too liberal at times, noting that usage is common as opposed to correct. Those points are debatable, and, indeed, they're what makes the book's nearly 900 pages so interesting to peruse. The currency of the new Fowler's extends to, in the entry on "Vogue Words," such novelties as "couch potato," "flavour of the month," "on a roll," and the notorious "parameter." Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2007-11-18
What is it in itself?
That's what Thomas Aquinas suggested we consider when assessing anything - What is it in itself?
This is not Fowler's (the second edition), even though the cover indicates that the publisher would be happy for you to believe it is. The introduction makes it plain that this a wholly different kettle of fish to the beloved Fowler's. It is less prescriptive, as other reviewers have noted. It is drier, there is less wit, less opinion, and perhaps less wisdom. I find it less well organised than Fowler's.
But it is very good at what it is trying to do: offer a description of modern English usage, including English used in the Americas and other far-flung locations. If you are a casual reader I would probably still recommend Fowler's first, just because it's generally the more enjoyable read. Also, you can pick it up for about 50 cents. If you are a language maven or work with words I can't imagine you'd want to be without this, although I'd expect you to also have Fowler's on your shelf.
Fowler's tells you what to do, although of course you can disagree, and in many cases the passage of time means you must if you want to be understood. This edition just lays out the land and lets the reader decide. Either way it's still your decision, but responding to Fowler's prescription is more fun than just choosing between dry options. I prefer the more prescriptive approach of Fowler's, so like others I want that approach with this currency (or might that be currentness, I'll have to check...), but in itself - this is very good at what it intends to be. Rating: 
Date: 2007-01-03
the Best 4 the Best
I've used the first three editions of this book, and find the second edition to be the most useful and interesting. I do not recommend any of this series to the casual English speaker who would only like to avoid glaring grammatical mistakes; there are simpler guides better targeting this. Key to efficiently benefiting from this book is knowing when to consult it. Thus, this book is best appreciated by someone with an already strong verbal command who recognizes opportunities to make subtle improvements. Rating:
Date: 2006-12-25
Fowler is indispensible - but...
Find a used second edition. In good shape, because you will wear it out.
Probably the most useful reference for a writer in addition to a good
style manual. Not just the what but the why - with wonderful examples. Rating:
Date: 2006-08-29
Essential Writer's Reference
Without this book on your shelf, how can you be sure when to use 'further' rather than 'farther,' 'that' instead of 'which'? You can't--it's an essential reference for every writer--fiction or nonfiction--who wants his or her work to show itself at the level of commercial professionalism. Rating:
Date: 2006-01-13
The Modern Language Classic "Fowler" is available for curmudgeons...
...but it is out of date. The fact is that feminism has forced us to recognize (for example) that the ambiguity of "he" MEANS something, namely, the very idea of patriarchal speaking-for, and more generally the notion of speaking-for-another.
The fact is that demotic speech, in ignoring tense rules that are themselves demotic with respect to older layers, is a bold attempt to make sense of that which is deliberately and with classist and racist intent obfuscated.
The irony, the paradox, is that the curmudgeon at one and the same time insists on being quite prolix on a fine Fowler point, but when an attempt is made to be equally prolix on matters of linguistic justice, that very same curmudgeon paints himself with woad and reverts to barbarism.
Underneath the academic gown is brute force, in other words.
If you want to be a professional bore and ass, if you long to be a Dead on arrival White Male, by all means get the "real" Fowler which is available, along with other antiques, as an Oxford Language Classic. If you want to communicate, get this "Fowler's".
In Fowler's day, there was indeed a need for precision which Fowler fulfilled. This need remains, but more important is a need for justice and for fairness which excludes the very idea of speaking-for and deliberate exclusion. |
