The Elements of Style (Recorded Books Edition)

By: William Strunk Jr., E. B. White

Narrated by: Frank McCourt

Length: 4 hrs

Publisher's summary

The Elements of Style has long been a valued and beloved resource for all writers. Hailed for its directness and clever insight, this unorthodox textbook was born from a professor's love for the written word and perfected years later by one of his students: famed author E. B. White. Ever since its first publication in 1959, writers have turned to this book for its wise and accessible advice.

©1995 William Strunk (P)2007 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"The work remains a nonpareil: direct, correct, and delightful." ( The New Yorker)

Fabulous and the only way to truly understand

Frank McCourt is fantastic as a narrator. I never understood all the concepts in this book until I heard it as an audio book. It made a great difference to my writing and critical thinking about grammar. I've listened to it twice and listen anytime I need a refresher.

Full of valuable advice and entertaining

The advice is great, but it is also hilarious the way the authors eviscerate some of the bad writing examples.

You really have to see this one...

I've always used this book as a writer, but you have to hold it in your hand and look at the construction for it to be really useful. You can soak up some general rules. And if you're a geek like I am, you can use it for relaxation, but Grammar Girl translates better to audio.

Packed w/Info

This compact book cut out the fluff. It's a wonderful resource with a lot of information useful to writers of any genre, including business writers. The presentation is wonderful. I do have one little criticism, which is the reason for the 4-star rating instead of 5. The original book was published in 1935. Even though new editions have been printed, some of the information seems to be a bit outdated. I see this book as a tremendous tool for writers, despite my one minor criticism.

Better As A Book

This is still a strong reference book, but you really need to have it in your hands. There really is no need to have a recording of this book, unless you are visually impaired. Reference books are best used in text format.

I liked the narrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I might have the edit a little cleaner (though, I spend a lot of time editing narration myself, so, this is a nit pick). It's a dry subject, treated with dry wit by the authors and delivered in a voice that reminded me of my grandfather, a retired judge. If anything, I'd have a higher quality audio file.

Did The Elements of Style (Recorded Books Edition) inspire you to do anything?

Mostly, so far, it's inspired me to be incredibly self conscious of what I've written here. :)

Any additional comments?

I read reviews that complained bout McCourt's narration. I heard some spots where breaths were poorly edited, but this is not McCourt's fault. I liked his narration. The way he announced each section title reminded me of my grandfather, I could see the look on his face and his finger in the air. It brought back a lot of a great memories, and was comfortable for me. I thought he did a great job at conveying William Strunk's dry wit.

A necessity for all writers. if you're a writer.

Loved it. if you're a writer, you must get this. trust me. it's worth it

The Elements of Style

Every writers knows this is a "must-read" book, but I found the narration a bit odd and distracting. But overall it was well done.

Read, ReRead & Read Again

Literally, Read, ReRead & Read Again is the opportunity and my practice with this classic informer.

With every fresh read, I either learn at a new depth or application possibility or with a clarifying a’ha!

It is my most valued and dependable Audible friend.

Very Useful

Following it's own advice, The Elements of Style is written with clearness and brevity. Made up of both rules for your prose as well as the reasons to follow them. A very good listen, but also a reference to return to over and over.