Verb Your Enthusiasm

A hugely entertaining and useful guide to the promise, power, and poetry of verbs, from a Pulitzer Prize-winning critic and writing teacher at Harvard.

Verbs are the underrated stars of the English language. They hold it all together. A complete sentence cannot exist without one, yet a single verb can create complete meaning. (See?) In this glittering exploration of language, grammar, and style, Sarah L. Kaufman illuminates how all of us, professional writers and enthusiasts alike, can master the art of the verb.

When she was the dance critic at The Washington Post, Kaufman was challenged to translate the dynamic language of movement into words. Verbs showed her the way. Good verbs power great storytelling; they leap off the page, fire our senses, and transform our perceptions.

Verb Your Enthusiasm is a clarion call for all of us to get back to basics—to mean what we say and say what we mean. Kaufman proves how strong verbs can make your own writing—be it an email, a text, a report, or an ad—more efficient and effective, and she investigates theories of language that will change how you read and write. But this isn’t a grammar guide, and it surely isn’t a set of rules. Great writing comes from a mix of inspiration, passion, and intelligence—from your unique discernment and imagination. You’ll refine your voice in the company of literary greats, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Virginia Woolf, and George Orwell. In the end, your quest for the right verb might even reveal something true about yourself. All that in a word. So go. Write. Breathe life into your world.