The Elements of Style
William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White · 1959
"Omit needless words." The most beloved, most argued-over writing manual in the English language. It may be prescriptive and occasionally wrong, but generations of writers have used it as a mirror and emerged with sharper prose.
The case against
Its grammar advice is frequently wrong: the section damning the passive voice illustrates it with sentences that are not passive, and White breaks his own rules on the pages where he states them. The famous three-word commandment about needless words is a mood, not a method. Useful as a charm against bloat; as instruction it has taught generations to fear harmless constructions.
Non-Fiction · the Pro canon
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
if this one calls to you, so will these →
