Random House Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style

I was reading the book quite happily until I noticed - on pages 21 - that Mr Dreyer was never taught not to put unnecessary commas immediately before or after conjunction like “and”. I didn’t get much further as I’d thrown the book into my garden pond. You’ll notice that I persist in putting two spaces after a full stop at end of my sentences. I always will. I’m English.

From the off, Dreyer goes to some length describing how he originally wrote this book in American English and how it was then 'translated' into British English - changing spellings and adapting the text for a British audience. It falls rather short. The copy editors needed to be far harsher on Dreyer; one suspects that they were perhaps in awe of him. The result is a verbose lecture on American style and usage, with a sprinkling of Englishness. For instance, Dreyer lectures us at length about using Oxford commas ('Only godless savages eschew the series comma') despite knowing full well that we use Oxford commas entirely differently here in the UK.Yes, it is an entertaining read at times. Yes, it has some useful pointers. No, this will not help you to write British English. It will confuse the beginner and infuriate the initiated. It will also help not one jot in your understanding of prescriptive versus descriptive grammar. Avoid.

This is a useful addition to any library belonging to those who wish to learn or improve written English. It is written in a 'friendly' accessible tone and although there is not much 'new' in it, the very act of reading it is a reminder of best use, and it is a useful 'go-to' as a reference book.The author touches on some modern updating - comma use, split-infinitives, propositions etc but there is a tad of a lean towards American usage occasionally. That being said, language is ever evolving and with the growth of social media/blogs/online forums and courses perhaps it is becoming more homogeneous than region specific. I do not know if this matters but had an experience recently where an editor advised removal of the word 'whilst' in favour of the "more modern" 'while'. I will miss 'whilst' so I guess it matters to me.

This style guide is highly readable, with plenty of interesting facts and anecdotes. Every now and again, it's almost amusing - in the driest of senses. It covers all the important conventions, "rules" and non-rules. The list of 12 words writers should avoid is an important piece of advice. This guide is the UK edition written in British English, which is all the more intriguing since it's a reworking of "Dreyer's English" first published in the USA in 2019. So it's more of a transposition than a translation, written as if from an inverse perspective, especially in relation to punctuation and grammar. Excellent text that will help improve your English usage.

I waited a long time to read this book before I finally got my hands on it - a year since it was first published and six months since it was 'translated' from American English to UK English. Yes, translated, because, as the Copy Chief of Random House explains, everything (okay, ALMOST everything) the Americans write, the English write differently.Whether you write books, short stories, blog posts, tweets, emails or anything else, this is the book you need. Dreyer wants you to clean up the way you write and he does so with a hilarious, almost lyrical way, citing relevant examples from popular texts.In addition to helping you tidy up your prose, he takes you through grammar rules that are no longer relevant, punctuation things to do or not to do, and the way to treat numbers and proper nouns. Then there are the words and phrases that are one's treasure and another's trash; that are the confusables, that are the trimmables, and are the miscellany.If I sound like a book's index it is probably because that's how this book's index reads. That's not all, though. There's more - more than going a week without writing 1. very, 2. rather, 3. really, 4. quite, 5. in fact, and the seven more words he lists.If you read only one book this year, let it be this. When you've read it once, read it again. Underline, circle, highlight. Keep it at the office, keep a second copy at home, carry a third on your person. Refer to it every time you write; even something as boring as a work email reminding everyone of the nine a.m. meeting on Monday.Let it be known that no matter what you think, you need this book. Yes, you do.