Garner's Modern American Usage »

Bryan Garner is the award-winning author or editor of more than 20 books. He is a prolific lecturer, having taught more than 2,500 writing workshops since the 1991 founding of his company, LawProse, Inc. His works include Garner on Language and Writing and Making Your Case: The Art of Persuading Judges, co-written with Justice Antonin Scalia. Garner has served as editor-in-chief of Black's Law Dictionary since 1995, and he is the author of the grammar-and-usage chapter in the venerable Chicago Manual of Style.

In this update of A Dictionary of Modern American Usage (1998), a contributor to The Chicago Manual of Style (2003) offers entries that discuss either a particular word or phrase, or larger issues of usage and style. The prefaces to both editions are included as well as a quick guide to 100 common editorial comments, a glossary, and a chronology of books on usage since the 18th century. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

October 10, 2003 - The Wall Street Journal

His book is comprehensive and a browser's delight. The long entry on "hoist(ed) with one's own petar(d)" reveals three common variants. The one on E.E. Cummings should close the lower-case debate for good. And there are more than 9,000 entries and essays on basic or baffling matters like diminutives, expletives, and metaphors--everything from abbreviations to my favorite, zeugma. Thus do I tip my hand and my hat.