The Elements of Style…not a book about fashion, sorry

I was a journalism student in college and had the book “The Elements of Style” by William Strunk and E.B. White tethered to my wrist most of the time. That is a bit of an exaggeration. But, it was THE book that you needed to read, read again, and again. It is a book that teaches punctuation and grammatical style.

It was affectionately called “the little” book. It was grey, not illustrated and thrilling in a weird way. I love the incisiveness of it. Independent clauses and syllabications seem so carefree and easily mastered when described by the authors.

It has been re-published with whimsical illustrations by Maria Kalman.

When I saw the new edition of the book at the bookstore it was like seeing an old friend at the reveal on “Extreme Makeover.” I knew the title, the authors, but it looked stunning in its new incarnation.

Disclaimer: In no way would I proclaim myself a stellar punctuation student. I am sure Strunk and While would be horrified by most Internet punctuation, my blog specifically. (Please feel free to use comments to correct or ridicule me. My journalism teachers sure did.)