Reviews (7)

This is a supplement, not a primary resource
Hopefully this statement will help those of you who are trying to decide what to buy: If you do not own a full copy of the APA Publication Manual, then do not buy this book. This book is meant to be a pocket-sized reference guide that you can carry with you. It is meant as a supplement, but it is not the primary resource -- the APA Publication Manual is the primary resource.
Incomplete
There's no rules for title pages, no examples of manuscript pages, no rules for pagination. It doesn't even tell you if the reference list belongs on a separate page or what its heading looks like. I consider these glaring omissions, particularly if you are expected to use pure APA and have no departmental style guide (like me). This book is basically a glorified guide to citation and syntactic rules. Avoid it and pay the extra five bucks for the complete book. Getting the cheap book as some kind of protest won't signficantly hurt the APA and it will just make things harder for you.

Good book, lacking in visual references
While this is a great condensation of the main rules needed to write in APA style, this book lacks one major thing -- the practical examples of how to apply APA style in a document or manuscript.
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Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    3. Handbooks, manuals, etc    4. Professional - General    5. Psychology    6. Publishing    7. Reference    8. Social sciences    9. Writing Skills    10. American English    11. Usage guides    12. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (47)

the premier style guide for published American English
It is perhaps time to worry if you feel particulary warm and affectionate towards a book like THE CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE.
Call Me Old Fashioned, but I LOVE This Book
If you work in the literary world, it drives you nuts on a daily basis to see how few writers bother to check for accuracy when it comes to using quotes, italics, or underlining in their manuscripts; how few know when to use single quotes or double quotes--don't get me started. Suffice it to say, this is the book to consult. Though there are a half dozen style books, you can't go wrong using Chicago!

Important but confusing
This book is necessary for understanding how to cite works using Chicago style, but it can be confusing and unclear.However it has many example sections which I found useful. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. General    4. Handbooks, manuals, etc    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Printing    7. Reference    8. Style manuals    9. Writing Skills    10. English    11. Publishing industry    12. Reference / Writing Skills   

Reviews (4)

Very Pleased
Having just enjoyed listening to Mr. Fry read his novel "The Hippopotamus" on my long commutes, I was immediately attracted when I heard of "The Ode Less Traveled."I have often wondered why I don't understand many poems, (and not just modern ones), and can't tell good from bad.I have tried a number of other books on poetry with no success.Beginning "The Ode..." however, I immediately recognized Mr. Fry's cadence of speech and humour and the first twenty pages have been very easy to follow.Now I am doing his suggested exercises with iambic pentameter, and I am looking forward to the rest and finally knowing something about poetry. In my opinion, Stephen Fry is one of a kind, and what fun it would have been if he had been my high school English teacher!

Standard Stuff
An earnest enough effort but terribly dull. Fry wishes us to revisit schooldays and jot our way through Chaucer, Milton, Shakespeare, i.e. learn the basics, pay our dues. And while it may be true that much poetry, eg Bukowski, is mere chopped-up prose, notes and shopping lists, Fry is unwilling or unable to grapple with grandmaster Pound. There should be more on modernist poetry: TSE and Pound. The Waste Land receives scant coverage. Fry is a fuddy-duddy, amusing from a distance and a bore at close quarters. I wish he would let his hair down and give us some edge and spike.

A volume wise and wry, from Mr. Stephen Fry.
One of my favorite quotes about poetry is from Dame Edith Sitwell. "Poetry is like horticulture," she said. "Each poem should be allowed to grow according to its natural form." In his new book, "The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within," Stephen Fry creates a veritable topiary garden of poetry, providing not only an encyclopedic overview of poetic meters and forms in English but a cogent, bracing and witty demonstration of their value. As its subtitle suggests, "The Ode Less Travelled" is written as a primer to both beginning and experienced poets who need, shall we say, a jump start to their creativity. Each chapter offers a discussion, with examples, of a particular meter, rhyme scheme or form, and suggests exercises at the end for readers to create their own examples. Fry quotes English poets from William Shakespeare to William McGonagall to illustrate his points, as well as a gratifyingly large array of American poets. Sometimes, when an example from the canon is not readily available, Fry will write his own, such as when he illustrates a dactyl (one stressed syllable, two non-stressed) followed by a molossus (three sharply stressed syllables in a row) in an imagined argument between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader:
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Subjects:  1. Anthologies (multiple authors)    2. Authorship    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Poetry    6. Writing Skills    7. Poetry / Anthologies (multiple authors)   

Reviews (109)

a mess
For being the official source on APA this book is appallingly bad. It is extremely hard to use, is incomplete, and seems to have even less information than is freely available on the net. Save yourself some time and skip buying this.

The Plot was pretty slow moving
I don't know... i just think the plotting of this novel was just pretty slow and not really exciting at all.The villains were just cardboard characters, the hero was kinda blah, and it just didn't build to an exciting resolution.So I can only give it two stars for effort...

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition
Very easy to find guidlelines for references and how to use them make this 5th edition a must for students and their tutors who are engaged in publishing research.
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Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    3. Handbooks, manuals, etc    4. History    5. Psychological literature    6. Psychology    7. Publishing    8. Reference    9. Social sciences    10. USA    11. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (2)

YOUR GUIDE TO GETTING PUBLISHED
Back in 1991, I was studying creative writing under a published author. The one thing we learned was to expect an average 70 rejections no matter if were beginners or seasoned pros. So if you write something, and you send it to be published, and it is rejected...DON'T GIVE UP!!!
More Than A Reference - It Inspires
You are a writer, and that's why you are reading this review. The same old question, "Can I justify purchasing this book?" I just received the deluxe version of this book, which is the regular book with a year of online access.
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Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Canada    3. Directories    4. Handbooks, manuals, etc    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Publishers and publishing    9. Publishing    10. Publishing (General)    11. United States    12. English    13. Literary & Linguistic Reference Works    14. Publishing industry    15. Reference works   

Reviews (11)

Rules For Writers
Comprehensive grammar book.Great sections on APA and MLA format writing.

The best writing reference I've found for the SAT Writing Section
I'm an SAT tutor, and I haven't been thrilled with many of the grammar/usage/writing SAT books on the market.They usually do a decent job on a few topics but not all topics.I'm getting this book for every one of my students (and my own son) because it will not only help them with the SAT writing section but it serves as the best ongoing reference for their use in school.I haven't tried the CD-ROM yet (sold separately) but it has over 1000 practice exercises.

Comprehensive, better than the Bedford Handbook
The college where I teach English composition used Rules for Writers as the Handbook for three or four years. It now uses the Bedford Handbook. I found Rules for Writers to be very full and useful for every aspect of teaching, not only grammar and punctuation, but for composition and research writing as well. It tends to have fairly exhaustive explanations of most points of grammar. It has an especially good section on ESOL problems.All in all, it is a practical useful book that I keep on my writing desk for my own use, even though it is no longer used in our classes.
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Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. English language    4. Grammar    5. Handbooks, manuals, etc    6. Language    7. Language Arts & Disciplines    8. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    9. Report writing    10. Rhetoric    11. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing   

Reviews (12)

Most Helpful Book on Graphic Design!
This book is loaded with valuable (clearly stated) information and outstanding illustrations to demonstrate successful creative thinking and targeted solutions.

Very cool addition to my personal library
I read the 3rd edition of this book and found it to be incredibly helpful in explaining the different applications, how to create them and what their purposes are in the vis com field. Without this book, my understanding would not have been as keen. What I especially like is that so many of the designers included in this book are also the ones who win awards in the design competitions- very cool addition to my personal library.

Thorough and engaging
This book is used as a course text in many design classes across the country. I can see why. Not so much a history as it is a survey of the current state of graphic design, it's quite possibly the best treatment I've ever read on the subject in a single volume. The 3rd edition is significantly expanded in content and reformatted versus the 2nd, and the illustrative examples are abundant and well-chosen. Many of the examples are accompanied by remarks from the designers themselves, which helps shed light on the concepts and thought processes behind the work. The text strikes a good balance between commentary and pedagogy, and as a result the book works for both instructional reference and casual reading. The end of each chapter contains related exercises designed to prod your right brain into action. This book will help you discover -- or rediscover -- what's fun and exciting about graphic design. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art & Art Instruction    2. Careers - General    3. Commercial art    4. Graphic Arts - General    5. Graphic arts    6. Language    7. Language Arts & Disciplines    8. Publishing    9. Art / Graphic Arts    10. Graphic design   

Editorial Review

Fans of Read more

Reviews (87)

Does anyone remember the old green Periodical Index???
Okay, confession:I don't own this, YET.(It's marked "highest priority" on my wishlist.)But reading reviews complaining about the royal annoyance of DVD swapping, I'm amused and slightly ticked off.Hey, folks, back in the day, if you needed to look up articles in the New Yorker, you had to go to a building in town called the "library".If you wanted to take an article home to read later, you were happy to be able to make a smeary, smelly, expensive photocopy.
There are always quibbles
Despite the all the minor quibbles you read this is a very worthwile package. Goodness, look at the 20s articles! They are historically worth the price of the package alone, and they are all at your computer! Do a bit of web surfing and discover ways to put the enourmous set on your hard-drive if you wish. It's worth the cost if not from Amazon than from the New Yorker page itself at one-half the price.
DON'T buy this!
ZERO stars. If you live in Europe, forget about it. This thing only works on PC's with an all American time & date system. Unless you want to americanize your computer, it's not usable.
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Subjects:  1. New Yorker (New York, N.Y. : 1925)    2. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    3. Publishing Industry And Trade    4. Journalism    5. Mass Media - General    6. United States - 20th Century    7. Reference / Publishing    8. Publishing    9. Language Arts & Disciplines    10. Language    11. History   

Editorial Review

Short and snappy as it is, Stephen King's Read more

Reviews (662)

Plain everyday wanting to write
I'm your plain everyday wanting to be writer. I found, 'On Writing' to be one of the best books I've read. Mr. King writes of his childhood and life in the first part of this book, then in the second half gives advice on how to write, which I have highlighted and marked up something awful. I was one of those teenagers he talks about in his book, that failed English in high school, and thought I was dumb, because of it. I did write as a child, only for myself, not like Mr. King who wrote for Dave's Rag. I loved the parts that spoke of his and his brothers dreams, escapades, or just having fun growing up. It brought back memories of me and my brother. I've read a few books by King, but I find I loved this one the most. I'm one of the older crowd, five years older then Mr. King. I wish he would write more books on plain everyday life, as he lived with his brother and mother, for me and others out there who don't want to read murder, mystery, etc. I'm not saying I didn't like Misery, because I did. I guess now in my elder years I'm just looking for a little less anxiety. I guess I'm what you call "old" and want to think of the world as a loving place and nothing more. I know I'm just dreaming about loving your neighbor, but I "do" believe that people are out there to love one another. I tried my hand at self publishing a book named, "Fears Flutterby", maybe if Mr. King reads this he can give me some tips.
As Much of a Writer's Manual as a Riveting Tale Told By a Master Story Teller
I am not sure how I should classify ON WRITING. It is part memoir, part guide or manual, and part autobiography. As a reader, this book entertained me. As a writer, this book empowered me.
On Writing, by Stephen King
So you've finally come to it: you wake up in the morning, and decide to heck with this nine to five job, bills, and a squinty-eyed boss that smells like old tobacco - you want something better out of life. You've decided to do what you always wanted to do; become a writer, and create worlds and whole universes for a living.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Authors, American    3. Authorship    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Composition & Creative Writing - General    9. Horror tales    10. Literary    11. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing   

Reviews (4)

Necessary for Children's Book Authors.
As an unagented children's book author, I was able to compile a list of publishing companies easily from this book. I haven't read through the entire book, but just the 200+ pages of publishers is worth the buy. This book has a lot of information and is well organized. I enjoyed reading about first time authors experiences with their writings and publishing stories. This book is the only one you will need for up-to-date info to start your journey as an author.

For children's writers and illustrators: if you can have only one book on your shelf....
This is a condensed version of the review I posted on my web site, The Purple Crayon. I'm the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books, and I have to be familiar with books in the field. CWIM is a very reliable market guide.
very useful
this book was very comprehensive! it gave all the information one would like to have when just starting out. it dosent however go into the details of how to write as a career. overall it will become one of my most valued resources. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Children's literature    3. Directories    4. Illustration Of Books    5. Language    6. Language Arts & Disciplines    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Marketing    9. Publishers and publishing    10. Publishing    11. United States    12. English    13. Industrial / Commercial Art & Design    14. Publishing industry    15. Reference works    16. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (2)

Superb organization awful content
The range of story and poetry selections is so limited, the materials bore students to death. The issues the texts are obsessed with--morbid existential guilt, death of a spouse or a parent ala Joyce, O'Connor, Cather, etc.,--no longer have the spell-binding effect they once had on the adult sensibility. We now live in an age where more dramatic problems occur. There has got to be some good literature that covers issues of our day, such as mass murder, rape, school-shootings, hysteria, incest, money problems, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, religious intolerance, etc. This textbook is totally out of touch with the current realities of our lives in the 21st century.

Ideal Textbook for Introduction to Literature
I chose to use McMahan's text because it saves me time as an instructor of English.Composition comprises the most significant portion of a student's grade in a college literature class, and this text teaches students how to write an essay about literature from the beginning of the process to the end.I also like the bonus of a novella, The Awakening, which is often taught at the intro. level but under separate cover.Such a deal. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. College readers    3. Composition & Creative Writing - Academic    4. Composition & Creative Writing - General    5. English Composition    6. English language    7. General    8. Language Arts & Disciplines    9. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    10. Literary Criticism    11. Problems, exercises, etc    12. Report writing    13. Rhetoric    14. Literary Criticism & Collections / General    15. Literature: History & Criticism   

Reviews (1)

An Excellent Resource For Novel and Short Story Writers
I purchased the 2007 NOVEL AND SHORT STORY WRITER'S MARKET because I 2007 will be the year. Of course I've purchased the 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 versions of the short story and novel edition or the overall WRITER'S MARKET for the same reason, because each year: 2003, 2004, 2005, or 2006 was supposed to be the year. I've since realized that getting a manuscript to work is not as easy as I had thought and 2003, 2004, and 2005 were unrealistic at best.
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Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Directories    3. Fiction    4. Language    5. Language Arts & Disciplines    6. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    7. Marketing    8. Publishers and publishing    9. Publishing    10. Publishing (General)    11. United States    12. Creative writing guides    13. Publishing industry    14. Reference works    15. Writing & editing guides   

Subjects:  1. Canada    2. Directories    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    6. Literary agents    7. Publishing    8. Publishing Guides    9. United States    10. English    11. Literary & Linguistic Reference Works    12. Publishing industry    13. Reference works   

Editorial Review

Whether you write an occasional professional letter or a daily newspaper column, William Zinsser's Read more

Reviews (107)

Excellent for teachers of writing and writers...
This is a keeper.Although I purchased it for a grad class I am taking, I will use it for my teaching and my own writing.
Written very well
Zinsser has certainly mastered the art of writing well, and therefore can speak on the topic authoritatively.This book is not only written with humor, but with empathy for people who are struggling with the ability to write well.The book certainly demonstrates that this ability is not inherent, but rather it is moreso the ability to work hard, understanding that writing is a process and a very messy one at that.This work can inspire the worst among us to really try at being the very best writer that we potentially can be.

Talk about verbose
I am not a fan of this book. He begins by saying Do not use complicated words when a simple one will do. Then he continues by using complicated words throughout the entire book. He proceeds by telling the reader to do everything they were told not to do: use "I" and start sentences with "but." He is the only person I have heard of that is pro "I" and I refuse to do poorly on future essays because he likes it whereas no one else does. Much of his style is completely subjective--he doesn't explain well why he likes some phrases and dislikes others. One thing I'm sure of, no matter what I'd write, he'd hate it, including this review. In my opinion, the author can be described by words he uses frequently in the book: pompous and utterly (he'd say that word is unecessary but oh, I think it is) pretentious. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. Creative Writing    4. English language    5. Exposition (Rhetoric)    6. Language    7. Language Arts & Disciplines    8. Reference    9. Report writing    10. Rhetoric    11. Writing Skills    12. Reference / Writing Skills   

Reviews (4)

A must read for all serious scholars of leadership
I have found the "Handbook" to be most useful.I disagree with my Swedish friend above about the book.In fact below is a snippet from THE journal of leadership about the book.According Schriesheim, Scandura,Gardiner and Lankau (1993) the Handbook is "the outstanding foundationsource for information on leadership theory and research" (p. 104). Schriesheim et al. state further that the handbook is "the sourcewhich scholars should consult first in attempting to understand any of thesubsidiary topics...subsumed under the general rubric of 'leadership theoryand research'" (p. 108). A classic, comprehensive work
Bass presents a thorough, but brief synopsis of the findings in leadership research. His chapter on stress and leadership ignores the positive effects stress has on leader behavior and its relationship to subordinates.

Social science back 60 years?
This text displays a plethora of simplistic, presumptuous and shallow typologies purporting to explain what is a leader and why it has to be so. Without any concern for contemporary social studies the author tells usabout what inborn qualities signifies a female leader, why there are fewerblack leaders than white ones ("scientifically proven" lowcognitive ability according to the author, pp. 740-741), and the litanygoes on. It is baffling that this stuff is still available in the bookmarket as anything else than obscure reminiscences of American socialscience in a time we rather forget about. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business/Economics    3. Handbooks, manuals, etc    4. Leadership    5. Leadership In Business    6. Management - General    7. Reference - General    8. Business & Economics / Leadership    9. Management & management techniques   

Reviews (8)

THE BEST!!! This one is the best out there
you can skip to any chapter and read that topic without having to read the first chapters. Go to what you inquire and the author will present it as standalone material. THis is like the bible of Magazine How-to books...

A Tough Read
I found How to Start a Magazine by James Kobak difficult to read and somewhat depressing.The promises on the cover, in my humble opinion, we never fulfilled and the textbook-style format was flat.I felt as if, rather than a telling me "how to" he was telling me all the reasons "not to."He also came from only one perspective--that of a large scale, national publication.My goal is to build a local business-builder magazine.Therefore, much of the information was irrelevant for me.Based on the cover promises, I thought I'd found the ideal book for my needs.It didn't deliver.

A wealth of information
So you want to start a magazine? It won't be easy..it won't be fast--and it definitely won't be cheap! Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Entrepreneurship    3. Journalism    4. Language    5. Language Arts & Disciplines    6. Magazine Management    7. Media Studies - Print Media    8. Periodicals    9. Publishing    10. Publishing Guides    11. United States    12. Business & Management    13. Press & journalism    14. Publishing industry   

Reviews (1)

"Happy Customer"
The item I purchased was on time.I was able to use the textbook in time for college. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. English language    4. Essay    5. Grammar    6. Handbooks, manuals, etc    7. Language    8. Language Arts & Disciplines    9. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    10. Report writing    11. Rhetoric    12. Creative writing guides    13. Language Arts & Disciplines / Composition & Creative Writing    14. Literary studies: general    15. Writing & editing guides   

Reviews (67)

dangerous
the author insists, so far as I can tell, that the only way to write a decent novel is based on some Aristotelean idea of the 'premise' which cannot be violated.'Love leads to death' is an example for a character who dies as a result of being in love.This is nothing but an obscene simplification of the plot.It's absurdly reductionist.
One side of the story
Let's be clear what we're buying here: an authoritative text on how to deploy character, crescendo, climax and theme in the idiom of the dramatic novel. Frey is covering the big picture, how skilled writers nurture the evolution of tensions through the work as a whole. His references to the classic canon of American fiction reinforce the message that these techniques are the essence of drama, and not just the stock in trade of pulp fiction.
A How-to-Write Classic
How to Write a Damn Good Novel is billed as "a step-by-step no nonsense guide to dramatic storytelling." I don't know about the step-by-step part, but Frey's advice is definately no-nonsense and will help you create dynamic stories.
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Subjects:  1. Composition & Creative Writing - Fiction    2. Fiction    3. General    4. Reference    5. Technique    6. Language Arts & Disciplines / Authorship   

Editorial Review

Wherein we discover that many of the "rules" for good writing and good sex are the same: Keep your hand moving, lose control, and don't think.Goldberg brings a touch of both Zen and well... *eroticism* to her writing practice, the latter in exercises and anecdotes designed to ease you into your body, your whole spirit, while you create, the former in being where you are, working with what you have, and writing from the moment. ... Read more

Reviews (140)

Freeing the Writer Within
In Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg challenges the writer to break free from conventional syntax, sentence structure, and the goody-two-shoes nature which compels us to write only what we believe others want to hear. Through this book, I have realized the importance of separating the writer from the editor, and allowing for free-flow thought. Goldberg encourages writers to extract themselves from the distractions of the home, to write in a cafe, a dinner, a foreign country. Consisting of short chapters, injected with entertaining anecdotes and written with amusing candor, Writing Down the Bones is a quick and easy read with very satisfying results.

Reads for a Writer
Natalie Goldberg offers and excellent insight into the life of a writer and what it means to write. This book covers all of the basics for beginning writers. The exercises allow you to experiment with poetry, short stories, narratives in both fiction and non fiction. Everyone gets writers block of hass a dry spell where you just can't wuite find the motivation. Goldberg offers remedies for everytype of person and reminds us not to let ourselves get in the way of our writing.
What inside you wants you to write?
Writing Down the Bones is not about the technical aspects of writing craft, it's about a philosophy to express what's inside you.
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Subjects:  1. Authorship    2. Composition & Creative Writing - General    3. Creativity    4. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    5. Reference    6. Self-Help    7. Self-Help / Creativity    8. Writing & editing guides