Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style

An indispensable, New York Times-bestselling guide to the craft of writing from Random House's long-time copy chief and one of Twitter's leading language gurus.

Dreyer’s English is an utterly delightful book to read, and will stand among the classics on how to properly use the English language. Elizabeth Strout describes it as "an utterly delightful book to read," while Rachel Joyce calls it "a complete joy" that is "wise, funny, no-nonsense, stylish, and brilliantly practical."

We all write, all the time—books, blogs, tweets, emails, emails, emails—and we all want to write better. Benjamin Dreyer is here to help.

As copy chief of Random House, Dreyer has upheld the standards of the legendary publisher for more than two decades. He is beloved by authors and editors alike—not to mention his followers on social media—for playfully, brilliantly deconstructing the English language. Dreyer’s English is the distillation of everything he has learned from copyediting thousands of books, the perfect guide not just for writers but for everyone who wants to put their best prose foot forward.

Both authoritative and amusing, Dreyer's English offers lessons on punctuation, from the underloved semicolon to the enigmatic en-dash; the rules and non-rules of grammar, including why it’s OK to begin a sentence with 'And' or 'But' and to confidently split an infinitive; and why it’s best to avoid the doldrums of the Wan Intensifiers and Throat Clearers, including 'very', 'rather', 'of course', and the dreaded 'actually'.

And yes—'Only godless savages eschew the Oxford comma.'

Stuffed with advice, insider wisdom, and fun facts, this book will prove invaluable to everyone wanting to shore up their writing skills, mandatory for people who spend their time editing and shaping other people’s prose, and—perhaps best of all—an utter treat for anyone who simply revels in language.

This book is written in British English.

Benjamin Dreyer's brilliant, pithy, incandescently intelligent book is to contemporary writing what Geoffrey Chaucer's poetry was to medieval English—a gift that broadens and deepens the art and science of literature.' - Jon Meacham

'A fascinating guide to grammatical "rights" and "wrongs"—practical and useful.' - Sebastian Faulks, Sunday Times

'A pleasing read for anyone who has an appreciation for the written word.' - TIME Magazine, Best 10 Non-Fiction Books of 2019

'Witty and piquant... full of jokes—and equally full of deliciously deprecating footnotes.' - Jewish Chronicle

'Playful, smart, self-conscious, and personal... One encounters wisdom and good sense on nearly every page of Dreyer's English.' - Wall Street Journal

'A mind-blower—sure to jumpstart any writing project, just by exposing you, the writer, to Dreyer’s astonishing level of sentence-awareness.' - George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo

'Benjamin Dreyer is wise, bitterly experienced, and fantastically good company. You should buy his book and read it.' - Times Literary Supplement

'Boisterously well written... I recommend it highly.' - Independent

'Dreyer promises to reveal "some of the fancy little tricks I've come across or devised that can make even skilled writing better," and does so with accuracy, style, and humour.' - Guardian

'This work is that rare writing handbook that writers might actually want to read straight through, rather than simply consult.' - Publishers Weekly