Includes exercises (pages 14, 20, 27, 34, 41, 56, 65, 70, 78, 83, 96, 107, 113, 126, 134, 141, 146, 161, 176, 201), index.

This book is an introduction to the art of becoming self-conscious and analytic about words. Nobody is expected to remember all of the advice and exhortation given, or to agree with all of it. The reader who comes prepared to make a fuss--to discover what they think and feel about this or that phrasing will benefit most. Read one section at a time, ponder the examples, do the exercises, go back to an earlier passage when a subject comes up again in a new context--us the book like a person to listen to and argue with. Preferring, choosing for good reasons whenever one is facing words is the very practice of self-criticism here advocated, and which alone leads to improved writing.