Book Review: Woe is I

'Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English, 3rd Edition'
Author: Patricia T. O'Conner


Format: Paperback
Published: Riverhead Trade; July 2010
Pages: 288
Genre: Grammar; Writing
Rating: B
Source: Personal copy


Synopsis: Former New York Times Book Review editor and linguistic expert O'Conner (Words Fail Me, You Send Me) updates her bestselling guide to grammar, an invigorating and entertaining dissection of our ever-evolving language. In this third edition, O'Conner guides readers through conversational conundrums with aplomb, filling in not only the logic behind the appropriate choice for, say, possessives, but also explaining such oddities as the spelling of restaurateur (instead of a "restauranteur"), the proper pronunciation of prix fix ("pree feeks") and a slew of mnemonic devices to help amateur grammarians keep ifs, ands and buts in check. It's these small digressions that make the book so readable, even for those with a deep-seated hatred for grammatical do-goodery. O'Conner gleefully eviscerates poor sentence construction and dangling participles, soothes verb tension and debunks the frequently intimidating semicolon with finesse. Tempered with a heavy dose of wit (reaching its nadir in her chapter on clichés), O'Conner's lively treatise is as vital as a dictionary for those who wish to be taken seriously in speech, in print or on Facebook.


My Take: I recently took an online Grammar and Editing course for work and had to buy a slew of books for this class. Many were incredibly indispensable as guides and I learned an amazing amount that college didn't even begin to cover to guide my ability to be a copywriter/technical reviewer. However, of all of the books we read, this was hands down the only one that would make me smile or giggle. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a person who giggles while reading the Chicago Manual of Style but you never know!


This however, is the every person's guide to grammar! I think they should probably make this book requisite reading for college students because it's easy to take in. While it may not be laid out in an easy to reference way because it's almost like a novel in it's chapter and long prose style, the nuggets you find within are pure useful gold. So if you've always shied away from brushing up on your grammar or just need a refresher course that you could easily read in an afternoon, than this is the book for you. 


There is a glossary in the back, however, I will say from a class standpoint, there are better references to have on hand for immediate needs. From a wow, I didn't know that and this will make it so much easier to remember now because it rhymes standpoint - this is totally the book! 


Cover Lust: It's moderately witty with the smiley face over the I so, again compared to the other grammar books out there this one's got it made!