Less Than Words Can Say

If ever there was a must read book, Mitchell's is it. Buy it. Give it to friends. But don't give this version. It appears to be a computer typset reproduction printed without regard for typography or presentation. Those of us who remember Mitchell recall that early on he beautifully handset "The Underground Grammarian" using loose type, one character at a time, for a letterpress. Then he migrated to a Macintosh that closely duplicated the beauty and ease of reading of the original. This bastardized version has long lines that are hard to read on large pages to reduce the cost. Oh, but buy the book any way you can. Find a used original. Print if from online. Or buy this version if you must. What he says is too important to miss, if you value society and the necessary exchange of ideas it requires. Just remember that the original presented clarity in a beautiful way.

According to Richard Mitchell, sloppy language makes sloppy thought possible. When it comes to sloppy language and to the sloppy thought that accompanies it, the education establishment is king. In this provocative book, therefore, Mitchell dissects the jargon-laden nonsense that passes for thought in America's schools by subjecting to his inimitable withering critique the letters, memos, speeches, and missives of those in charge of the life of the mind. The result is simultaneously alarming and enlightening -- alarming because instructors cannot give to their students the education they themselves do not have, and enlightening because it will teach the reader how better to use language and logic. This book is a primer on subjecting one's own writing and thought to careful scrutiny. From Mitchell, you will learn that if you pause to find the right word and do not go on until you have found the right word, you will know better not only what you do think, but what you should think. If you do not pause to find the right word, you will make it clear to those who do pay attention to your words that you are thoughtless and careless. In other words, you will learn to do to your own words what Mitchell does to those of the educationists. The lesson is invaluable.

More a book on philosophy and the nature of thought than the problems and trials of language, Mitchell has put together a remarkably thoughtful and well-planned book.He takes apart bad writing with skill and aplomb, but does so without exposing the bad writers to unnecessary, uneducational humiliation. Some would say he needs to lead with a gentler hand, but I think he does a good job of showing how poor language skills lead to poor thinking ability.

This, Mitchell's first book, is also his best. Mitchell takes examples of bad writing and rips them to shreds. While some would think these mistakes don't really matter ("We all know what she means, don't we?"), Mitchell insists that they do, because they are revelations about the mind that wrote them. Thus examples of bad writing that come from "educators" are given special attention; if educators have twisted minds, what can we expect to have happen to their charges? Exactly what does happen. Mitchell castigates American educationism for its consistent failures, particularly in teaching poor black children, and offers a fascinating explanation: these things are no accident. They are the result of an emmphasis on feelings rather than knowledge, and social engineering rather than teaching. As he puts it in one of his essays, weird educational practices "were not sneaked in throught the boiler room in the dead of night;" they arise from the deepest principles of educationism. Though the subject is grim, the book is hilarious. And the humour is lasting--it's not the kind that's funny once and then becomes sickening; it's true humour. The book is also beautifully written and structured. Every sentence is a model of clarity and concision; each sentence flows into the next, each paragraph flows into the next. While each chapter has its specific topic, the beginning of each chapter picks up the thread of the last, and images used in one chapter are picked up later on in another. The book is simply a joy to read, and re-read, and re-read, and re-read....

Through college and in the business world we are taught a thousand ways to write. Most of our lessons deal with the style of the reader/professor/boss. Unfortunately, these people have adapted to the same writing fallacies that plague the rest of the nation. This book addresses these common problems. The author explains the problem, gives us real life examples, and shows you how to avoid the problem in your writing. Additionally, the book is written in a witty sarcastic manner that is quite entertaining. The finished product is an entertaining book that actually teaches the reader something that they can use. I'd say it is a novel concept (pun intended)