178
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #193,043 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★☆☆☆
Probably does more harm than good.
This short, classic book is essentially a collection of the bits and pieces of advice that Prof. Strunk (and later his student, New Yorker editor E. B. White) considered most important some 50 years ago. Much of what they say is wise and useful -- as far as it goes. The problem is that too many people, especially people whose jobs require writing, think that Strunk & White is the alpha and omega of good writing and never bother to learn from better, more thorough, and less dated works. If you really want to improve your writing, rather than simply salve your conscience, I highly recommend *Style,* by Joseph M. Williams (available in paperback), and *The Reader over Your Shoulder,* by Robert Graves and Alan Hodge (reprinted in 1995 as *The Use and Abuse of the English Language,* yet inexplicably out of print under either title; it's at least as old as Strunk & White but has held up much much better). If a grammar refresher is what you want, then for my money the best resource is the 60-page section on grammar (including a glossary of grammatical terms) in *Words into Type.* If you already grasp the basics of grammar and want to deepen your understanding, then Max Morenberg's *Doing Grammar* is an excellent choice.
