Good Writing by Neal Allen and Anne Lamott
Husband and wife authors Neal Allen and Anne Lamott provide specific actionable tips to tighten, clarify, and deepen writing. Their playful banter and complementary yet unique perspectives make Good Writing an enjoyable and insightful look at the writing craft. The book jacket claims Good Writing “picks up where The Elements of Style leaves off,” which is a high bar for those of us who see Strunk and White as a pillar of sound composition, and I find the claim hard to dispute.
The Elements of Style is an essential toolbox for grammatically correct and concise writing; whereas Good Writing provides further guidance on how to craft clear and grounded writing from these tools. For instance, Strunk and White write, “Rich, ornate prose is hard to digest, generally unwholesome, and sometimes nauseating.” Allen and Lamott provide two short essays based upon this principle and expound upon its implications. Lamott writes, “… on the last draft of everything I write, I go through and cut any flagrant efforts on my part to sound more erudite and charming than I actually am, as well as my more forced efforts to use irony or witticisms to leaven tough emotional moments.” Such experience-based advice provided through two distinctive and clear voices makes Good Writing a must read and valuable complement to The Elements of Style.
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Debutante Detective by Bruce Rule
With negotiations to end the Russo-Japanese War approaching, Holmes and Watson attempt to retrieve a stolen diplomatic letter, rescue a kidnapped Teddy Roosevelt, and foil a bomb plot. Will Roosevelt’s socialite daughter help or get in the way? Bruce Rule’s historical references, use of early 20th century American idioms, and portrayal of the era’s diplomatic maneuvering give this book an authentic period feel.
Rule captures Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s writing voice and stays true to Watson’s role as a reliable reporting hand, which makes The Debutante Detective a true pastiche. As with Doyle’s classics, without Watson serving as a bridge between Holme’s frenzied genius and erudite mannerisms (verging, at times, upon condescension), Holme’s detective work would seem to readers nothing more than a whirlwind of off-putting and seemingly disjointed observations and conclusions. Rule stays true to Watson’s role in this classic partnership and harnesses deftly this character to make Holmes approachable and to draw readers into a world of “nothing is quite as it seems.”
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