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Books for Writers and Speakers
 The Lost Art of the Great Speech:
How to Write One; How to Deliver It -
by Richard Dowis
SPELL's Past President Dick Dowis has produced the definitive how-to book for
speech writrers and speakers. The book is insightful, interesting, and
entertaining. It examines the craft of speech writing from beginning to
end -- literally -- and along the way provides valuable advice for
delivering a speech. The book has been selected by Soundview Executive Book
Summaries as one of the 30 best business books of the year. Published by
AMACOM Books.
 Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay -
by Richard Dowis and Richard Lederer
SPELL's Past President Dick Dowis and Vice President Rich Lederer have teamed up
again, and readers who liked The Write Way won't be disappointed with
Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay, an often rollicking romp through the mindfield
known as the English language. But don't let the humorous title mislead
you; the book is a serious look at some of the most troublesome problems or
grammar, syntax, spelling, and usage. It includes a "Ten-Minute Writing
Lesson" and numerous puzzles to illustrate its points. Published by St.
Martin's Press, Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay has been chosen as an alternate
selection of the Book of the Month Club.
 The Write Way: The S.P.E.L.L. Guide to Real-Life Writing - by SPELL's Past President Richard Dowis and Vice President Richard Lederer.
Published by Pocket Books (1996) under the auspices of SPELL, this book is a comprehensive manual of good writing, grammar, and usage. Dowis and Lederer have many years combined experience as writers, editors, and teachers. Their book provides clear explanations, numerous real-life examples to illustrate them, and touches of humor that make it very readable from cover to cover.
 On Writing Well - by William Zinsser (Harper & Row, 1980). A former journalist, Zinsser writes very well when he writes about writing.
Simple & Direct - by Jacques Barzun (Revised edition, Harper & Row). Another excellent disquisition on the craft of writing clear, graceful English prose.
 The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations - by Charles Harrington Elster (Houghton Mifflin) is just what its subtitle says, "The Complete Opinionated Guide for the Careful Speaker."
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Dictionaries
Many good dictionaries are available today, and anyone who is serious about language will not be content to own only one. Here are some that SPELL finds especially useful:
 A desk dictionary for general use: Random House Webster's College Dictionary
 Webster's New World Dictionary, Third Edition (1991).
 An oversise desk dictionary: American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition (Houton Mifflin), an excellent source of usage information and word histories, is a hefty 2,140 pages.
 A dictionary for serious word buffs: Webster's Third New International Dictionary, first published in 1934.
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Grammar and Usage
 The Handbook of Good English - by Edward D. Johnson (Washington Square Press), is by far the best grammar handbook we've seen. It is not a textbook; it is a prescriptive handbook designed to provide answers to most questions of grammar and syntax.
 Modern American Usage - by Wilson Follett. This book, published in 1966, has become a classic in the field. Follet's three essays, "On Usage, Purism, and Pedantry," "On the Need of an Orderly Mind," and "On the Need of Some Grammar," are superb. The book is now available in an updated version by Erik Wensberg.
The Writer's Art - by SPELL member James J. Kilpatrick (Andrews, McMeel & Parker, 1984). A nationally syndicated columnist, Kilpatrick often writes on one of his favorite subjects - language. This book is a useful and entertaining look at usage from a writer who knows - and cares.
A Dictionary of Modern American Usage - by Bryan A. Garner, a thorough and fresh look at usage questions.
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Matters of Style
 The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press). This comprehensive book has been the standard reference work for writers and editors for more than 75 years and has been updated many times since it first appeared in 1906. It contains the answer to almost any question about punctuation, abbreviations, typography, manuscript preparation, etc. Probably the best style book available.
 The Elements of Style
- by William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White (MacMillan, 1979). One of the few real bargains left in the world, this 92-page gem proves that good things can come in small packages. It has been in print for many years and is still probably the most often cited authority on writing style.
 Words Into Type - by Marjorie E. Skillin and Robert Malcolm Gray (1974) is 585 pages of useful advice and infornmation on grammar, usage, style, etc.
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Books for Logophiles
 There's a Word for It! A Grandiloquent Guide to Life - by SPELL Vice President Charles Harrington Elster (Pocket Books), is a lighthearted celebration of unusual (and often useful) words.
 Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins - by William and Mary Morris, an excellent source of information about words and where they came from.
 The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology also a good study of the origin of words.
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Books for Students and Teachers
 Hands-On English
- by SPELL member Fran Hamilton (Portico Books, 1998). Drawing on many years of experience as a teacher, Mrs. Hamilton has provided an excellent back-to-basics book on English grammar. It's intended for students and their teachers, but adults can use it to review rusty fundamentals.
 Tooth and Nail: A Novel Approach to the New SAT - by Charles Harrington Elster (Harcourt Brace), is a full-length vocabulary-building mystery novel designed to teach high school students the words they need to know for the SAT and for college.
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Just for the Fun of It
 Anguished English, More Anguished English, and Fractured English - by SPELL Vice President Richard Lederer. These three books of blunders, bloopers, fluffs and flubs, and goofs and gaffes from all walks of life - student bloopers, press bloopers, and headline bloopers - are guaranteed to make you laught 'til you cry while skaking your head at the careless use of language that slithers into the media and other places.
Anguished English
More Anguished English
Fractured English
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