Simple & Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers

By Jacques Barzun

Categories: Education & Teaching, Reference

Simple & Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers is historian Jacques Barzun's practical guide to writing clear, plain English. Organized around diction, linking, tone and tune, meaning, composing and revising, it shows how to choose precise words, connect ideas so readers can follow them, match tone to purpose and revise until the prose says what the writer means. Model passages, examples of faulty usage and exercises accompany each chapter.

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• Tim Ferriss: “Cut out the bugs and upgrade your machine with these three blueprints, listed in the order I recommend reading them: Simple & Direct by Jacques Barzun”