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The Chicago Manual of Style
by
Technologies may change, but the need for clear and accurate communication never goes out of style. That is why for more than one hundred years The Chicago Manual of Style has remained the definitive guide for anyone who works with words.
In the seven years since the previous edition debuted, we have seen an extraordinary evolution in the way we create and share knowledge. ...more
In the seven years since the previous edition debuted, we have seen an extraordinary evolution in the way we create and share knowledge. ...more
Hardcover, 17th Edition, 1146 pages
Published
September 12th 2017
by University of Chicago Press
(first published 1906)
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Start your review of The Chicago Manual of Style

It doesn't matter if you're a fan of MLA, AP, or even (dare I say it) Franklin Covey, the Chicago Manual of Style will never let real-world writers and editors* down. Sure, at first you'll stagger through its appendix and feel overwhelmed by the layout, but rest assured, with time, you'll come to rely on it like your trusty blankey that has always been there for you through all these years.
*By real-world writers and editors, I mean that elitist class of people who poo poo on people who write for ...more
*By real-world writers and editors, I mean that elitist class of people who poo poo on people who write for ...more

Oct 23, 2007
Katherine
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
editors, authors who work with editors, snarky people
My Bible.
Why did they have to change the rule about a bold or italic punctuation mark being set bold or italic according to the preceding typeface?
Why don't they include better samples of how to abbreviate journal titles for Documentation II style?
Why is the index still horrendous?
I use this book every single day, even if I'm just threatening my dog with it to get her off the furniture. ...more
Why did they have to change the rule about a bold or italic punctuation mark being set bold or italic according to the preceding typeface?
Why don't they include better samples of how to abbreviate journal titles for Documentation II style?
Why is the index still horrendous?
I use this book every single day, even if I'm just threatening my dog with it to get her off the furniture. ...more

Memo to Goodreads admin people: the 15th edition is old hat. Nowadays it is the 16th edition that is authoritative. The once-proud 15th edition has had its pedestal tugged out from under it. Only losers refer to the old-fashioned, outmoded, antiquated 15th edition anymore, or even hold on to their copy. Screw the 15th edition.
Please create a listing for the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition. I'd like to post a review complaining that I see few differences between it and the 15th edition (wh ...more
Please create a listing for the Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition. I'd like to post a review complaining that I see few differences between it and the 15th edition (wh ...more

Jun 22, 2008
Mir
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
writers, especially of non-fiction
Recommended to Mir by:
my dissertation advisor (and it was more an order than a recomme
Shelves:
non-fiction,
reference
Too heavy, too expensive, and too orange. Other than that, it is great! Very thorough and well-organized. This is the only style guide I've had where I could both locate the information I needed quickly and get a sufficiently clear and complete explanation to be sure how it applied to my own writing.
...more

Dec 16, 2009
Erik Graff
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
editors/students/authors
Recommended to Erik by:
no one
Shelves:
reference
Having been laid off from my happy position at Loyola University Chicago, having no luck at finding a similar position there or elsewhere and being semi-employed by a small academic publishing house, I decided to get serious about another career. So, I started publishing lots reviews and one scholarly article and began trying to drum up editorial work. Being already familiar with the MLA style, I picked up a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style and read through the whole thing. It wasn't so bad.
...more

Nov 02, 2010
Mariana
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
all-time-favorites,
information,
masturbation,
goddess,
reference,
classics,
owned,
design,
graphic,
nonfiction
This is the book that should be in every drawer in every hotel room. I'll get right on the phone with the Gideons.
...more

I’ve long been familiar with CMOS, of course, but this was my first time working all the way through it, section by section. It was also my first time teaching it, in a doctoral-level research and communication course. It is truly a magnificent tome, and even though I’ve now read every page, I will probably continue to be amazed afresh at rediscovering all it contains.

I was working on an essay for which I had to cite a particularly bibliographically complex book; it was a commentary by Averroës, translated by one person, introduced by another, and edited by yet another poor soul. I hadn't a clue how to formulate all the relevant information in my bibliography. Throughout my psychology master’s program, it was easy: it was all APA, everything was always APA. But now I realized that, for my philosophical essays, I hadn't been conforming to any particular system
...more

The serial comma is a beautiful, perfect thing. This book is nowhere near perfect, but there's nothing else like it.
...more

This is a book to be revered. If more of the aspiring writers who upload their works to Kindle and Nook spent a month or two getting acquainted with its contents, they could avoid the kinds of mistakes that anger readers. Almost every reader has some grammar pet peeve. The thing that drives them up the wall may not even register with you.
There are various works online and in print that claim to be the "Bible" of self publishing. This is the only book that is Bible of the industry. Whether you ha ...more
There are various works online and in print that claim to be the "Bible" of self publishing. This is the only book that is Bible of the industry. Whether you ha ...more

Can you read a style guide?
Yes. The middle parts of them are essentially books on grammar.
This is the best of them.
Yes. The middle parts of them are essentially books on grammar.
This is the best of them.

Feb 04, 2018
Serena W. Sorrell
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
gift-inscribed,
research,
copyediting,
2018tbr,
resource,
non-fiction,
books-i-own,
guide,
writing
Review for 17th edition:
This is--by far--a better edition than the last. In addition to making some much needed revisions, gender identity pronouns and updated practices have been added. Overall, the style is smoother and more user friendly than the last edition, which was overly dry most of the time and made for a difficult once through read. As this is my primary textbook and resource for the copyediting program I'm currently enrolled in (not to mention the field once I graduate) I find readin ...more
This is--by far--a better edition than the last. In addition to making some much needed revisions, gender identity pronouns and updated practices have been added. Overall, the style is smoother and more user friendly than the last edition, which was overly dry most of the time and made for a difficult once through read. As this is my primary textbook and resource for the copyediting program I'm currently enrolled in (not to mention the field once I graduate) I find readin ...more

The ultimate style ref :)

I've always been a sucker for large, thick, scholarly works, especially if they cover some subject I'm interested in- not that this M.O. has always met with the best of results.
Take Black's Law Dictionary, for example. Back in the day, when I was studying to become a legal assistant, I was grabbing any volume that looked like it would help decipher legalese- and when I saw Black's, clocking in at 3-4" in girth, I thought I'd found THE AUTHORITY on all words legal- but soon discovered that not o ...more
Take Black's Law Dictionary, for example. Back in the day, when I was studying to become a legal assistant, I was grabbing any volume that looked like it would help decipher legalese- and when I saw Black's, clocking in at 3-4" in girth, I thought I'd found THE AUTHORITY on all words legal- but soon discovered that not o ...more

At my fancy new freelance gig there is often some downtime between jobs, which, after having examined all of the house style guides multiple times I decided to use to review the CMoS, since I haven’t actually had to use it in a while. And that, dear reader, is how I ended up reading the entire Chicago Manual of Style, Fifteenth Edition, by the University of Chicago Press, cover to cover. (Yes, I know that’s not how style guides are mean to be read.) (And yes, I know there are sixteen editions, b
...more

Chicago >>>> (by orders of magnitude) MLA or APA*. And this is the best reference ever: what to do if an author translates her/his own work into another language? how to alphabetize that writer with 3 last names? what about that quote gathered from the annals of a local community committee council that seems to have no publisher? No need to fret, the Chicago Manual of Style's got your back.
* Still embittered that I couldn't convince my advisor to allow me to use Chicago (ugh, APA is really the w ...more
* Still embittered that I couldn't convince my advisor to allow me to use Chicago (ugh, APA is really the w ...more

I guess I can't really say that I've read this book, but I've definitely used it. Few books have kept me up later into the night. When you find a really great exposition on dashes and hyphens, who needs sleep???
...more

Ok, so I didn't actually read every single word, but I did go through this thoroughly as part of a class on editing.
The Bible. Accept no substitutes.
(And if you don't use Oxford commas, there is just no hope for you.) ...more
The Bible. Accept no substitutes.
(And if you don't use Oxford commas, there is just no hope for you.) ...more

Ok, I'll admit I have not read it cover to cover...
...more

Very dry subject matter. Bad memories of all the writing needed for my master's program. I understand the need for conformity but my simple mind could not get past the complex rules of writing.
...more

Don't edit copy without it.
...more

Either a person likes the MLA or APA format, The Chicago Manual Style can never let a writer down. It might be heavy on the pocket, but it is one of the most thorough and well-organised books I have ever read. The book is straightforward to understand. An individual can effortlessly locate the desired information, and it will be elaborated in detail for the writer to apply to their work. After a thorough read of the book, I could differentiate between British and American concords better than be
...more

Either a person likes the MLA or APA format, The Chicago Manual Style can never let a writer down. It might be heavy on the pocket, but it is one of the most thorough and well-organised books I have ever read. The book is straightforward to understand. An individual can effortlessly locate the desired information, and it will be elaborated in detail for the writer to apply to their work. After a thorough read of the book, I could differentiate between British and American concords better than be
...more
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