In writing, style matters. Our favorite writers often entertain, move, and inspire us less by what they say than by how they say it. In The Sound on the Page, acclaimed author, teacher, and critic Ben Yagoda offers practical and incisive help for writers on developing and discovering their own style and voice. This wonderfully rich and readable book features interviews with more than 40 of our most important authors discussing their literary style, including: Dave Barry Harold Bloom Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Bill Bryson Michael Chabon Andrei Codrescu Junot Díaz Adam Gopnik Jamaica Kincaid Michael Kinsley Elmore Leonard Elizabeth McCracken Susan Orlean Cynthia Ozick Anna Quindlen Jonathan Raban David Thomson Tobias Wolff

The Sound on the Page: Great Writers Talk about Style and Voice in Writing

Yagoda, Ben

Arts & Photography

Harper-perennial

Drawing on previously unavailable letters, a major reconsideration of the great American entertainer brings out Rogers's hidden depths, showing his humor and political savvy, as well as his insecurity and moments of despair. 15,000 first printing. Tour.

Will Rogers: A Biography

Humor & Entertainment

Harper-San Francisco

Over the course of his career, acclaimed author, teacher, and critic Ben Yagoda has uncovered one certain truth about writing: "Style matters." Indeed, it is frequently the case that our favorite writers entertain, move, and inspire us less by what they say than by how they say it.
Most books, including Strunk and White's classic The Elements of Style, take a narrow view of style, suggesting that the only proper one is of plainness, simplicity, and transparency. But tell that to David Foster Wallace, Dave Eggers, Don DeLillo, and other stylistic risk takers!
While not a "how-to" manual, The Sound on the Page offers practical and incisive help for writers on identifying and developing a distinctive style and voice. Drawing on interviews with more than forty authors -- Tobias Wolff, Elmore Leonard, Michael Chabon, Cristina García, Dave Barry, Camille Paglia, Junot Díaz, Margaret Drabble, and Bill Bryson among them -- Yagoda discusses:
<ul>
<li>Conscious and unconscious ways writers approach style, from Bebe Moore Campbell on her pointed use of Black English to Christopher Hitchens's penchant for adverbs</li>
 <li>The influence of writers on writers, including Susan Orlean on Ian Frazier, James Wolcott on Manny Farber, and Frank Kermode on William Empson</li>
 <li>The impact of tools on style, featuring Cynthia Ozick and Harold Bloom grumbling in harmony about the word processor and its discontents</li>
</ul>
Filled with insights from outstanding writers and close readings of their works, The Sound on the Page is an essential book for all aspiring and experienced writers, as well as for readers who are interested in learning how their favorite writers approach the craft.

The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Writing

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Harper

For more than seven decades, the New Yorker has been the embodiment of urban sophistication and literary accomplishment, the magazine where the best work of virtually every prose giant of the century first appeared. With all the authority and elegance such a subject demands, Yagoda tells the fascinating story of the tiny journal that grew into a literary enterprise of epic proportions. Incorporating interviews with more than fifty former and current New Yorker writers, including the late Joseph Mitchell, Roger Angell, the late Pauline Kael, Calvin Trillin, and Ann Beattie, Yagoda is the first author to make extensive use of the New Yorker's archives. About Town penetrates the inner workings of the New Yorker as no other book has done, opening a window on a lost age.

About Town: The New Yorker And The World It Made

Business & Money

Da Capo Press

Drawing on previously unavailable letters this biography brings out Rogers' hidden depths, showing his humor and political savvy, as well as his insecurity and moments of despair

KNOPF

All in a Lifetime: An Autobiography

In this moving autobigraphy, readers will meet the little girl who became an orphan during the Holocaust; who grew into a courageous 17-year-old who went to Israel and was wounded in the War of Independence; and who finally became the sex therapist and celebrity known nationwide as "Dr. Ruth".

Westheimer, Ruth

Biographies & Memoirs

Grand Central Publishing

The challenge is great. Despite all the talk about "family values", the family is besieged. The percentage of children living below the poverty line rose 49 percent from 1973 to 1992; American children are less likely to be immunized than those of any other developed nation; and many corporations still lag behind in areas such as maternity leave, while rewarding workers for long hours away from home. Moreover, the skyrocketing divorce rate and boom in the out-of-wedlock birth rate has relegated the "traditional family" to the realm of myth. Against this grim backdrop, Dr. Westheimer sees tremendous hope. She argues that the family is actually redefining itself in ways that will become more important - and more accepted - in the 21st Century. She points to changes in social attitudes and corporate and governmental policies that will allow for more unconventional but functioning family units, such as "step-" or "blended" families, and families headed by a gay single parent or couple. In addition, she sees generations pulling together for the sake of today's children, as more and more grandparents become active in their grandchildren's lives. In this book, help is available. Compiling an exhaustive list of family programs, resources, and self-help groups around the country and on the Internet, Dr. Westheimer tells parents how to get help for themselves and their children. And, sternly taking issue with new governmental legislation that claims to be "pro-family", she points our leaders in a bold new direction.

The Value of Family: A Blueprint for the 21st Century

Westheimer, Dr. Ruth

Parenting & Relationships

Dr Ruth Westheimer is everyone's favourite sex therapist. All in a Lifetime is the memoir of her journey from the horrors of war to the fulfillment of the American dream. The book is as warm, humorous, and candid as Dr Ruth herself.

Community & Culture

Offers a critical and cultural history of "The New Yorker" from its founding in 1919 through 1987, discussing the evolution of the magazine's content over the years and its role in American cultural life

About Town: The New Yorker and The World It Made (First Edition)

History & Criticism

Scribner

A spot-on guide to how and why Americans have become so bloody keen on Britishisms--for good or ill The British love to complain that words and phrases imported from America--from French fries to Awesome, man!--are destroying the English language. But what about the influence going the other way? Britishisms have been making their way into the American lexicon for more than 150 years, but the process has accelerated since the turn of the twenty-first century. From acclaimed writer and language commentator Ben Yagoda, Gobsmacked! is a witty, entertaining, and enlightening account of how and why scores of British words and phrases--such as one-off, go missing, curate, early days, kerfuffle, easy peasy, and cheeky--have been enthusiastically taken up by Yanks. After tracing Britishisms that entered the American vocabulary in the nineteenth century and during the world wars, Gobsmacked! discusses the most-used British terms in America today. It features chapters on the American embrace of British insults and curses, sports terms, and words about food and drinks. The book also explores the American adoption of British spellings, pronunciations, and grammar, and cases where Americans have misconstrued British expressions (for example, changing can't be arsed to can't be asked) or adopted faux-British usages, like pronouncing divisive as "divissive." Finally, the book offers some guidance on just how many Britishisms an American can safely adopt without coming off like an arse. Rigorously researched and documented but written in a light, conversational style, this is a book that general readers and language obsessives will love. Its revealing account of a surprising and underrecognized language revolution might even leave them, well, gobsmacked.

Gobsmacked!: The British Invasion of American English

History

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Princeton University Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Yagoda, Ben. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Yagoda, Ben

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Yagoda, Ben. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Sound on the Page: Great Writers Talk about Style and Voice in Writing

Will Rogers: A Biography

The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Writing

About Town: The New Yorker And The World It Made

Will Rogers: A Biography

All in a Lifetime: An Autobiography

The Value of Family: A Blueprint for the 21st Century

All in a Lifetime: An Autobiography

About Town: The New Yorker and The World It Made (First Edition)

Gobsmacked!: The British Invasion of American English