Better writing: another guide

Published last September, My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be 'Me'?) has only just attracted my attention.  It is the work of two authors the first of whom -- Caroline Taggart -- has spent nearly two decades as a freelance editor of non-fiction while the second -- J. A. Wines -- is a freelance editor and author whose works include the endearingly-titled Mondegreens: a Book of Mishearings.

Anyone who follows the editor of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (JIPLP) on Twitter for even a short while will be aware of his trials and triumphs in the battle to edit legal articles in a manner which is succinct, intelligible and accessible. To this end, he is happy to recommend this little book to any current or future author who would like to make his or her text more readable as well as more grammatically correct.

What might a read of this book accomplish? Let the publisher's web blurb explain:
"A runaway hit and Sunday Times bestseller in 2008, My Grammar and I has continued to grow in popularity, becoming the go-to guide for grammar. Repackaged with a fresh jacket design, this much-loved gift title is now available in paperback, for new readers and fans of the series alike. My Grammar and I offers amusing examples of awful grammar, while steering you in the direction of grammatical greatness. Taking you on a tour of the English language through the minefield of rules and conditions that can catch you out, from dangling modifiers to split infinitives, it highlights the common pitfalls that every English language user faces on a day to day basis. Refreshing everything you should have learnt at school and more, My Grammar and I is informative yet entertaining - an ideal buy for any English language enthusiast".
There might have been a time when a book such as this would be thought principally useful for contributors from jurisdictions in which English is not the first language. However, improvements in the teaching of English as a foreign language and the deterioration of the teaching of English as a first language have achieved something of a homogenising effect: the same errors and poor style are now as likely to be found in a Current Intelligence note or article emanating from Oxford as arising from the banks of the Orinoco.

For further information about this book, you can access its web page here.

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