Style

This humorous and accessible classic on style calls for the return of wordplay and delight to writing instruction. Richard Lanham argues that many tomes on writing, with their trio of platitudes-clarity, plainness, sincerity-lie ''upon the spirit like wet cardboard''. People seldom write to be clear. They have designs on their fellow men. Pure prose is as rare as pure virtue, and for the same reasons... The Books (Lanham''s term for misguided composition textbooks), written for a man and world yet unfallen, depict a ludicrous process like this: "I have an idea. I want to present this gift to my fellow man. I fix this thought clearly in mind. I follow the rules. Out comes a prose that gift-wraps thought in transparent paper." If this sounds like a travesty, it''s because it is one. Yet it dominates prose instruction in America.