The Elements of Expression, Revised and Expanded Edition

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What to expect

A funny and useful grammar book! There are many grammar and usage books that give advice on correct English. This isn’t one of them. The Elements of Expression targets expressiveness as a goal apart from getting it technically right. Imagine the yawns a sportscaster would induce by announcing, “His bat struck the ball and the ball went into the stands,” instead of “He took that ball downtown!” And why say, “I’d prefer it if you didn’t volunteer your opinions,” if what you really mean is “When I want your advice, I'll beat it out of you” (Chuck Norris, Code of Silence)? Written with uncommon wit and humor, The Elements of Expression offers writers, speakers, and self-improvers a fresh look at how they express (or fail to express) their thoughts and feelings. Plotnik supplies many engaging examples of adventurous language to show the tremendous power of words to describe and enliven human experience. For people who care about language and want to write or speak forcefully, effectively—in a word, expressively—this is the audiobook to turn on!

Critics Review

  • “Mr. Plotnik challenges his readers to set themselves apart…Genuinely funny.”

    New York Journal of Books

  • “[An] entertaining potpourri of thoughts about words…A helpful little compendium for writers and speaking wishing to brush up on their prose.”

    Publishers Weekly

  • “Richard Waterhouse’ interpretive skills and playful
    approach make this thoughtful book on writing shine in the audio format. With
    youthful and reasoned enthusiasm, he reads long sentences, lists, and
    quotations with razor clarity and sounds authentically engaged with the author’s
    ideas and sensibilities. He’s especially effective when reading the examples
    offered on oral presentations, which allow listeners to hear how phrasing,
    tone, and emphasis can vary. For experienced writers and newbies alike, this is
    an invaluable book on how one’s choice of words can influence the formality,
    style, and effectiveness of our writing.”

    AudioFile

  • “Funny and fundamentally helpful.”

    Constance Hale, author of Sin and Syntax

  • “With sincerity, humor, and the occasional precision-lobbed ‘grenade,’ Plotnik teaches by example, demonstrating dozens of ways we can ‘abuse’ English and add interest and tension to dozy prose—all without forsaking authenticity and restraint.”

    Carol Fisher Saller, author of The Subversive Copy Editor

  • “Plotnick succeeds where many writers fail. he not only enlightens, he entertains. To be guided by such a sure and steady hand is a delight—a romp through the ever-changing trends of taste and style that shape our use of English.”

    Stephen Wilbers, author of Keys to Great Writing

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