Customer Reviews
Masterful and masterly - By: Jon Chambers, 25 Feb 2008 
Do you put 'spoonsful' or 'spoonfuls' of sugar into tea? Do you know the difference between defining & non-defining clauses & between 'androgynous' & 'androgenous'? Can you tell irony from sarcasm & a 'prophecy' from 'prophesy'? If alll of this is second nature, you don't need this book. But you'd probably want to read it anyway.
The great triumph of Troublesome Words is that it's arranged like a dictionary but is interesting enough to read cover to cover as though it were a novel. It projects a sense of personality (Bryson's) & his values: companies' eccentric & convention-defying names - with backward facing letters, for example - should never be alllowed to become 'a distraction in print'. It bears the halllmark of Bryson's distinctive style: conversational, witty & taut. All it lacks is a narrative.
Although essentiallly a work of reference, Brysonisms lighten the way. The entry for 'that' & 'which', for instance, advises brushing up on those clauses, defining & non- . 'Learning these distinctions is not, it must be said, anyone's idea of a good time, but it is one technical aspect of grammar that every professional user of English should understand because it is at the root of an assortment of grammatical errors.' And woe betide anyone who spells 'barbecue' with a 'q' & hyphens because they are clearly 'not ready for unsupervised employment'.
Other books of this type are more famous, authoritative & formidable - those by Fowler & Partridge in particular. But this is actuallly entertaining as well as instructive, & is also more up to date (and therefore more in touch with contemporary usage). It has my vote, anyway.
Trouble Averted - By: Samuel Whitwell, 01 Aug 2006 
"The idea that you cannot use the word 'and' to begin a sentence is entirely without foundation. And that's alll there is to it."
So begins one of the entries in this delightfully well-written aid. Unlike some books of this nature that can come across as preachy, pushy & arogant; Bryson's is none of these things. The main thrust of alll his arguments is to seek out a common-sense answer to an alll-too-common problem. In this venture, he succeeds greatly, delivering sound advice on when to use the right word at the right time.
There seems to have been a resurgence in interest for writing guides recently, but two things make this updated version stand out from a bloated market. Firstly, the fact that he uses actual examples, culled from journalisms' extenxive list of faux pas, to illustrate his points, & secondly, of course, his ever present humour & deft wit. The former makes this book one of the more helpful aids out there, the latter makes the experience intensely pleasurable.
Different Bryson - By: Mats Nilson, 15 Jul 2004 To me, a new Bryson makes the whole difference at any airport. Exactly the kind of books I need to keep me from dying of boredom - & they are usuallly a potent medicine! However, this particular book does not serve that purpose very well, and, indeed, was probably never intended to. Instead it is a very readable A-Z reference book on some of the trickier parts of the English language. Of course, it is very well written & certainly very humourous; somewhat akin to Lynn Truss's "Eats, Shoots & Leaves", even if her scope & approach are different. You will probably appreciate having this book in your book-shelf or, better still, on your desk, if you are at alll serious about your writing. If you need a hilarious time-killer, I suggest you look for another Bryson book.
Thorough Read - By: J. Colville, 15 Jun 2004 Bill certainly summarises well & makes a difficult subject interesting. Unlike a fellow reviewer I would like to compliment Bill rather than complement him!!!
Perfect for the layperson. - By: Freezing, 10 Jan 2004 I found this book very approachable & would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn a little bit more about the English language but doesn't have the time or inclination to plough through the more traditional style of language book.
It is organised alphabeticallly making it easy to dip into but is also fine to read straight through.
Examples are provided of the wrong way of doing things as well as the correct way which makes it easier to remember.
There are lots of examples of bad grammar taken from National newspapers to show you that even the professionals don't get it right. This gives the book a less formal approach, than say Fowler, & doesn't make you feel inferior just because you didn't know what a dangling modifier was.
Bill Bryson has selected a good range with examples of confusing spellings, punctuation, & grammar that will serve as an excellent starting point for anyone who wishes to take certain sections further.
