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<![CDATA[Cryselle added 'Ambrose Bierce's Write It Right: The Celebrated Cynic's Language Peeves Deciphered, Appraised, and Annotated for 21st-Century Readers']]>
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/78559609
to: Ambrose Bierce's Write It Right: The Celebrated Cynic's Language Peeves Deciphered, Appraised, and Annotated for 21st-Century Readers (Hardcover)byAmbrose Bierce
This turned out to be an unusual peek into linguistic history and American history; apparently the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries spawned an intense rage for style manuals and advice for speaking and writing. Nit-picking (a phrase that surely Bierce would have denounced for its slanginess and disgusting imagery)over correct English was elevated to a high art form. Strunk and White come from a longer tradition than I ever imagined.
Freeman points out that most of Bierce's detested words and constructions are outdated either by the march of time and technology, have been resolved into standard usage,or simply been forgotten, but as she also points out, "Indignation has charms that reason can't match." That his quibbles are no longer serious linguistic issues for the most part doesn't take away from the amusement of the peek into the curmudgeon's mind.
Freeman's own comments have a joyous acerbity; she both chuckles at Bierce's frothings and matches them, refuting them altogether with wit and citations. Her familiarity with the major style guides of the time and historical language uses let her compare and contrast Bierce's fulminations with other "authorities" and tradition, providing an entertaining look into the evolution of the language.
Due to the format, this isn't a book to be read straight through, but something to be savored in little bites here and there: each entry is a discrete gem. Mine gravitated (now, there's a word Bierce would have hated!) next to the telephone, where rereading will be the perfect consolation for waiting on "hold."