Moran writes fluidly and elegantly, offering practical advice on giving one's writing texture and verve.
A dense yet splendid “style guide by stealth” that reads like a two-semester course in English composition distilled into a two-week treatise.
The question is how, apart from multiple readings, one might absorb all the wisdom in a single gulp. Moran (English and Cultural History/Liverpool John Moores Univ.; Shrinking Violets: The Secret Life of Shyness, 2017, etc.) believes that by “mastering” one of the fundamental building blocks of language—the sentence—we learn not merely about writing, but about everything. It’s a sweeping claim, but Moran backs it up, giving us mostly trenchant sentences on the art of creating them. A sultan of syntax, he wants to show rather than teach, and he generally succeeds. He likens good prose to good poetry, both taking wing on the rhythm, meter, and music of language. Writing is an artisanal craft, or should be, employing meticulous care and execution. Moran extols the virtues of the plain style—like cooking, “a sentence should rely more on quality ingredients than baroque artifice”—but cautions against fetishizing the unadorned, introducing ways to make more elaborate sentences work. Whatever the style, good sentences give order to our thoughts and clarity to the reader, but they must also sing on the page and in the reader's mind. Moran links themes with illustrative asides, as in his short history of writing, but mainly, he critiques the common novice mistakes and veteran's misjudgments, demonstrating skillful alternatives. At times, the author will make even experienced writers feel inept, especially in his discussions of arcane grammatical terms. Still, his tone is comradely, not chiding. Oddly, one point Moran does not address is the element of talent. Everyone's writing can be improved, but all the technique in the world won't make a mediocre talent an exceptional one.
Moran writes fluidly and elegantly, offering practical advice on giving one's writing texture and verve.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-14-313434-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Penguin
Review Posted Online: May 6, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
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BOOK TO SCREEN
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Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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