By Laura Godfrey Part memoir and part thoughtful guide to grammar and punctuation, Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen is Mary Norris’s tribute to her decades as a copy editor for The New Yorker. Her new book, which is often funny and personal but also delves deeply into common linguistic challenges (that … Continue reading Book review: Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris
Tag: book review
Book review: Business Planning for Editorial Freelancers by Louise Harnby
By Amy Haagsma As a new editor, I have set out to learn as much as I can about editing, both the business and the craft. Among the many fantastic resources I’ve discovered are Louise Harnby’s blog, The Proofreader’s Parlour, and her books, Business Planning for Editorial Freelancers and Marketing Your Editing & Proofreading Business. Harnby is a U.K.-based … Continue reading Book review: Business Planning for Editorial Freelancers by Louise Harnby
Book review: The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker
By Ana Trask If you want a comprehensive, in-depth guide that answers questions about grammar, usage, and style, turn to Steven Pinker’s The Sense of Style, which was just released in September (2014). There are different types of styles—plain, practical, classical, and postmodern—and they can overlap. Pinker is a proponent of classic prose, which steers … Continue reading Book review: The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker
Book review: Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
By Whitney Matusiak Author Stephen Kelman grips readers and deftly conjures compassion with the use of a culturally and socially magnetic dialect in his debut novel Pigeon English (2011). Set in a rough London estate, Pigeon English is a modern-day coming-of-age tale with dark leanings centring on the gang-related death of a young boy. With … Continue reading Book review: Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
Book review: The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon
By Whitney Matusiak Alena Graedon’s debut novel, The Word Exchange, explores an imagined time of conquered print-media prowess—replaced by “smart” technology bordering on artificial intelligence. Graedon’s “dystopian novel for the digital age” follows the perils of Anana Johnson with clever thematic nods to George Orwell’s 1984, Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, and John Wyndham’s The … Continue reading Book review: The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon
Book review and contest: Emberton, by Peter Norman
Would you like to win a copy of Emberton, the brand new debut novel from Canadian poet Peter Norman? Read our review below, then send your name and full mailing address to [email protected] with the subject line "Emberton contest" by April 9 to enter the draw. (Contest open to EAC Toronto branch members only.) Review by … Continue reading Book review and contest: Emberton, by Peter Norman
Book review: Max Perkins: Editor of Genius
By Alanna Brousseau “The most important obligation of friendship is to listen,” explained Max Perkins to his second-eldest daughter, Zippy. Perkins, the editorial momentum behind such literary heavyweights as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Thomas Wolfe was considerably more than a reviser of words, straddling at times the roles of confidante, money lender, minder, … Continue reading Book review: Max Perkins: Editor of Genius
Book review: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint
By Sadie Scapillato I picked up Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress because I was working on a manuscript by a newish writer who wanted guidance on how to handle multiple third person points of view. A writer friend of mine recommended the Write Great Fiction series by Writer’s Digest. It had just what … Continue reading Book review: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint
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