A Ghost of Daisies

While I’m a fan of this little book by Strunk and White, this writer harps on about how this book has damaged the writing of generations of Americans.

So I won’t be spending the month of April toasting 50 years of the overopinionated and underinformed little book that put so many people in this unhappy state of grammatical angst. I’ve spent too much of my scholarly life studying English grammar in a serious way. English syntax is a deep and interesting subject. It is much too important to be reduced to a bunch of trivial don’t-do-this prescriptions by a pair of idiosyncratic bumblers who can’t even tell when they’ve broken their own misbegotten rules.

I have half a shelf of grammar and writing books (I know, I know. I should be reading them!) and The Elements of Style is amongst my reference books. I enjoyed reading it in the car. My favorite grammar book though is Sin and Syntax.

I recommend reading this long but great interview with John Lasseter’s success about what makes Pixar movies great (animator driven storylines and great collaboration) and bringing classic Disney 2D animation back to the playing field. I wrote my final paper for undergrad about the lost art form of 2D animation so I’m glad it’s making a comeback.

This great article from CNN.com made me cry over my cereal this morning. Enjoy.