Simple and Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers

Barzun, Jacques

ISBN 10: 0060102365 / ISBN 13: 9780060102364

Published by Harper & Row, NY, 1975

About this Item

212pp. Boards have a slight bend. Spine ends are bumped. Rear board has a surface tear near the top tip. Spine is a bit shaken. Spine panel, flap folds, and edges of jacket are sunned with correlating toning to the inside of the jacket. Spine panel has light damp stains. Edges of jacket have creases. Lower edge of rear panel has a couple of tiny tears. Text is unmarked. 0060102365.

Seller Inventory # 33778

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Simple and Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers
• Publisher: Harper & Row, NY
• Publication Date: 1975
• ISBN 10: 0060102365
• ISBN 13: 9780060102364
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: Second Printing.
• Condition: Very Good Minus
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good Minus Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • Writers, Writing, Journalism

About this title

Synopsis

In Simple & Direct, Jacques Barzun, celebrated author and educator, distills from a lifetime of writing and teaching his thoughts about the craft of writing. In chapters on diction, syntax, tone, meaning, composition, and revision, Barzun describes and prescribes the techniques to correct even the most ponderous style. Exercises, model passages -- both literary and unorthodox -- and hundreds of often amusing examples of usage gone wrong demonstrate the process of making intelligent choices and guide us toward developing strong and distinctive prose.

About the Author

Born in France in 1907, Jacques Barzun came to the United States in 1920. After graduating from Columbia College, he joined the faculty of the university, becoming Seth Low Professor of History and, for a decade, Dean of Faculties and Provost. The author of some thirty books, including the New York Times bestseller From Dawn to Decadence, he received the Gold Medal for Criticism from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, of which he was twice president. He lived in San Antonio, Texas, before passing away at age 104.