The Little, Brown Handbook

Was sent the wrong book twice and now the book is out of stock and I'm screwed having to pay full price for this book ($65). It's been not stop screw up and delays. I will take my business elsewhere now

This little gem is great for English students and is easy to follow and understand the basic grammar.

I work in a peer-tutor center at my university and mostly encounter students using Harbrace, but LBHB is SO much better tha Harbrace or any of the others I have seen -- organized better, easier to understand. I keep mine right next to my computer -- unless my roommate has it by hers.

As a student and instructor, I never ever write a paper without using this book. I have used it since 2002 and each edition is better and better. My highlighter never stops when finding important ways to quote authors, annotate references, and where to use semi colons.

Although intended primarily for students, The Little Brown Handbook is an excellent reference for all nonfiction writers. While writing my own recent book on option pricing, I consulted it often regarding the use of colons, semicolons, dashes, and other fine points of punctuation. It even served as an arbiter of correct grammar and usage in the occasional dispute with my copy editor! Almost everything critical to good writing is covered--from organization, paragraph coherence, and sentence structure, to punctuation, word choice, and issues of style--and in sufficient detail to be useful to the working wordsmith. Guidelines for academic writers, a discussion of the American Psychological Association (APA) style employed in the social sciences, and suggestions for use of the internet in research, also appear in The Little Brown Handbook. All in all, this book should be found near the Strunk and White classic, The Elements of Style, on any writer's bookshelf. I would unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone who writes, either for pleasure or for a living. Jeffrey Owen Katz, Ph.D. Author (With Donna L. McCormick):   "Advanced Option Pricing Models" (McGraw Hill, 2005)   "The Encyclopedia of Trading Strategies" (McGraw Hill, 2000)

This handbook is all an aspiring writer needs to grasp the technical aspects of the English language. Virtually every nuance of English grammar is discussed at length, including the subjunctive mood (yes, English has one), and the Passive voice (yes, the one your English teacher always asked you not to use!). The book has 883 pages. I will value this even more when I go to graduate school next year. Why is this book useful? Have you ever wanted to know how to correctly use question marks, commas, and quotation marks? Well, virtually every punctuation mark in existence is explained in the book. Typically rules of usage are given first, and then the explanation is followed by an example sentence. This format makes learning the concepts very easy.There are also extremely helpful chapters on the use reasoning skills, reading and thinking critically, revising, editing, finding sources, and many, many more helpful topics. The book has sections on MLA, APA, CBE, and Chicago Styles of citing works. So whether you need to write a paper for a Psychology class or an English class, you can find help here. There are also tips included on how to do work in various fields, such as the humanities and social sciences. Another informative section is Glossary of Usage chapter. Included here are commonly misused words, and an explanation of their correct usage (and examples of such usage). For instance, did you know that "lay" is transitive and "lie" intransitive? Or did you know that the past participle form of "lie" is "I have lain?" I could go on and on about what is included, but there is just so much, it would take more than a few pages! You will have to trust me that this book offers grammar tips, writing hints, citation methods, and other helpful tools. Here is a listing of the contents for all interested:Preface for Instructors Preface for Students: Using This Book Introduction: Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing Pt. I The Whole Paper and Paragraphs Pt. II Grammatical SentencesPt. III Clear SentencesPt. IV Effective Sentences Pt. V PunctuationPt. VI Mechanics Pt. VII Effective Words Pt. VIII Research Writing Pt. IX Special Writing Situations App. A Document FormatApp. B Writing with a Computer App. C Oral Presentations, Glossary of Usage, Glossary of Terms