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Fun to peruse ( )

This is an updated version of *The Reader Over Your Shoulder*, an excellent guide to good writing. Worth keeping on the bookshelf and consulting. ( )

In 1943, Graves and Hodges wrote a classic book on clear writing (and clear thinking) called The Reader over My Shoulder. In 1946, Graves stole Hodges wife, Beryl and married her. In 1947, an enlarged version of The Reader was published under the title under review. I can't help but wonder if this change in title perhaps had some ulterior significance, at least to Alan Hodges. Certainly, Graves had not simply been "reading" over Hodges' shoulder. Clearly, something else, besides the English language, was being "used" and yet something else again was being "abused." Maybe this is just idle speculation on my part. At any rate, Graves went along with the re-titling, so perhaps I should just drop it. Regardless, the revised version is the one to have, if only for "Section 2", which gives us many extended samples of less-than-adequate prose, carefully enumerates each and every problem in each sample, and then offers a proposed revision that remedies the flaws. The ironic thing is that it is entirely possible to subject each page of the book under review to the same scrutiny, with similarly embarrassing results. ( )