The best way to learn is through stories.
The Glamour of Grammar is not a textbook. It’s a story of language from one who loves its bones.
You will remember so much more about language because the lessons here are attached to tidbits, anecdotes and analogies.
I wholeheartedly recommend the audiobook. Clark narrates his own book and the joy in his voice when he’s talking about language is infectious. He’s like the best English teacher. You listen to whatever he has to say. And sometimes when you think he’s gone off on a tangent, it isn’t a tangent at all. And was that aside appropriate to share with the class? Perhaps not, but who cares. It was all relevant. And you’ve gladly listened to it. You’ve been entertained. And you’ve learnt something.
This book has kept me company on the child-free leg of the school run for the last six weeks or so. It’s great to listen to in bitesize chunks. Yes, there is an overarching theme of the glamour of grammar (using the ‘magical’ connotation of the word glamour here), but it’s not one where you’re going to lose the thread if you put the book down for a week or so.
A great book. I wish I’d read it when I was a teacher. I could have shared some of the creative lessons with my students. When you attach a lesson to a story or an anecdote or an interesting fact, it’s way more sticky. As an editor, there isn’t anything in here ‘rules’-wise that I didn’t know. But it definitely improved the composition of my mind’s grammar Rolodex. The entries are more concrete with new examples that can be quickly called to mind.
It’ll be my last non-fiction read of the year, most likely. And it was a good ‘un.
Let me know any writing-related books you recommend.
CherryEdits 