'An utterly delightful book to read Dreyer's English will stand among the classics on how to
use the English language properly.' ELIZABETH STROUT 'A complete joy. For those who care
about words - and for those who don't - Dreyer's English is the book we have all been waiting
for. Wise funny no-nonsense stylish and brilliantly practical.' RACHEL JOYCE _____________
An indispensable New York Times-bestselling guide to the craft of writing from Random House's
long-time copy chief and one of Twitter's leading language gurus. We all write all the time:
books blogs tweets emails emails emails - and we all want to write better. Benjamin Dreyer
is here to help. As copy chief of Random House Dreyer has upheld the standards of the
legendary publisher for more than two decades. He is beloved by authors and editors alike - not
to mention his followers on social media - for playfully brilliantly deconstructing the
English language. Dreyer's English is the distillation of everything he has learned from
copyediting thousands of books the perfect guide not just for writers but for everyone who
wants to put their best prose foot forward. Both authoritative and amusing Dreyer's English
offers lessons on punctuation from the underloved semicolon to the enigmatic en-dash the
rules and non-rules of grammar including why it's OK to begin a sentence with 'And' or 'But'
and to confidently split an infinitive and why it's best to avoid the doldrums of the Wan
Intensifiers and Throat Clearers including 'very' 'rather' 'of course' and the dreaded
'actually'. And yes: 'Only godless savages eschew the Oxford comma.' Stuffed with advice
insider wisdom and fun facts this book will prove to be invaluable to everyone who wants to
shore up their writing skills mandatory for people who spend their time editing and shaping
other people's prose and - perhaps best of all - an utter treat for anyone who simply revels
in language. _____________ This book is written in British English. _____________
'Benjamin Dreyer's brilliant pithy incandescently intelligent book is to contemporary writing
what Geoffrey Chaucer's poetry was to medieval English: a gift that broadens and deepens the
art and the science of literature' JON MEACHAM 'A fascinating guide to grammatical 'rights'
and 'wrongs' - practical and useful' SEBASTIAN FAULKS SUNDAY TIMES 'A pleasing read for
anyone who has an appreciation for the written word.' TIME MAGAZINE BEST 10 NON-FICTION BOOKS
OF 2019 'Witty and piquant [...] full of jokes - and equally full of deliciously deprecating
footnotes.' JEWISH CHRONICLE 'Playful smart self-conscious and personal . . . One
encounters wisdom and good sense on nearly every page of Dreyer's English .' WALL STREET
JOURNAL 'A mind-blower--sure to jumpstart any writing project just by exposing you the
writer to Dreyer's astonishing level of sentence-awareness.' GEORGE SAUNDERS author of
Lincoln in the Bardo 'Benjamin Dreyer is wise and bitterly experienced and fantastically good
company. You should buy his book and read it.' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT 'Boisterously well
written ... I recommend it highly.' INDEPENDENT 'Dreyer promises to reveal "some of the fancy
little tricks I've come across or devised that can make even skilled writing better" and does
so with accuracy style and humour' GUARDIAN 'This work is that rare writing handbook that
writers might actually want to read straight through rather than simply consult.' PUBLISHERS
WEEKLY
