This could well be a good book, but I found it really annoying that there isn't a price on the landing page. Especially when you're offering 10% off for HNers - 10% of what?
If I've got to click the 'get it now' button just to find out the cost, I'm more likely to click the little cross on the tab.
A good idea. I'm all for the open expression of the modern web, but upping the quality of grammar on blogs, both small and large, would be a welcome advancement.
As a non-native english speaker I find this product and the overall idea absolutely fantastic. We can pick and choose the tools we use, but most of us across the board could use a little help with communication and writing.
Finally! A book on the special English grammar and magic writing tools used by creators! Does anyone know where I can get "Grammar and Writing for Circus Clowns" or the companion volume for the homeless?
Feel like this is an infomercial directed at me. Instead of coming on at 3AM during a TV movie, it's on in the middle of my web browsing. That said, I've had some success buying random self published books of the interwebs (lookin' at you idiomatic python)....
Why should I spend (however much it costs) for this when I can find a copy of Strunk and White in any library (or buy a used copy from Amazon for $4.00(including shipping))?
You're right, you could probably learn similar things from "Strunk and White," but right now the problem is that most people check their grammar rules from random websites. Try google searching for any rule, and I guarantee you that you'll find contradictory advice...
So in comparison to "random grammar advice from the web" this book is superb in its comprehensiveness, clarity, and succinctness. The author doesn't have a print version yet, but I deemed this book to be "worth printing"-level quality, so I have it on my desk now.
(undisclaimer: I wasn't friends with author before I read the book.)
Since we're on the topic of English and writing, I'd like to share with y'all something that deeply inspired me when I first read it. Here's a short essay by George Orwell on the English Language (1946).
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm
<request>Please, please for God's sake. For sanity's sake. For my sake. Please stop using "utilize" instead of "use" to spice up your technical writing. It's horrible. I can't explain why. Please, just use "use" and don't try to be fancy. Thank you.</request>
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[ 4.7 ms ] story [ 24.7 ms ] threadIf I've got to click the 'get it now' button just to find out the cost, I'm more likely to click the little cross on the tab.
You're right, you could probably learn similar things from "Strunk and White," but right now the problem is that most people check their grammar rules from random websites. Try google searching for any rule, and I guarantee you that you'll find contradictory advice...
So in comparison to "random grammar advice from the web" this book is superb in its comprehensiveness, clarity, and succinctness. The author doesn't have a print version yet, but I deemed this book to be "worth printing"-level quality, so I have it on my desk now.
(undisclaimer: I wasn't friends with author before I read the book.)
<request>Please, please for God's sake. For sanity's sake. For my sake. Please stop using "utilize" instead of "use" to spice up your technical writing. It's horrible. I can't explain why. Please, just use "use" and don't try to be fancy. Thank you.</request>