The Oxford Essential Writer's Reference (Book Review)

As a long time devotee of Oxford publications, there is one small reference book I carry with me whenever I travel. This book, “The Oxford Essential Writer's Reference,” fits neatly into a carry-on bag or a medium-sized purse. For so small a size, the aid this book can give to writers is tremendous.

These words in the prologue “A helpful way to think of this book is as a literary Swiss Army Knife” are very true, because so much is neatly arranged in this 368 page paperback. Just a quick look at the chapter headings is enough proof of this book's usefulness.

The book has nineteen chapters:

1 Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Usage guides

2. A List of the Most Commonly Used Foreign Words and Phrases

3. 100 Tricky Usage Problems and Pitfalls Explained

4. 100 Rare Fifty-Cent Words and Their Meanings

5. 125 Synonym Studies

6. Proofreader's Marks and What They Mean

7. Common Citation Styles

8. A List of Clichés to Avoid

9. A List of Common Rhetorical Devices, Poetic Meters, and Forms

10. A Quick Guide to All the Plays of Shakespeare

11. A Timeline of Great Works of Literature in English

12. Biblical Quotes, Characters, and Books of the Bible

13. Major Mythological Characters

14. A List of Great Print Resources

15. A List of Writers' Advocacy Organizations

16. How to Copyright Your Work

17. A common-Sense Guide to Manuscript Formats

18.Great Websites for Writers

19. Forms of Address for Letter Writing

The few introductory paragraphs or one or two pages at the beginning of each chapter make some enjoyable reading on their own.

I found every part of the book to be indispensable, but synonym studies can be very useful to novice writers who may not have grasped the nuances in the meanings of some words. For example, on page 173, the differences between the words “get, acquire, attain, gain, obtain, procure, secure” are succinctly explained.

In the “Quick Guide to Shakespeare” after a two-page introduction to Shakespeare, each play's title, date, and theme are given, as well as one or two famous quotations and a list of characters. It is not an in-depth study of Shakespeare by any means, but it is a quick reference one can glance at when the heavier tomes are not within reach.

The Bible Quotations are given as book, chapter, and verse, after a few paragraphs that point to the importance of the Bible as the reference source by the most famous writers.

Published by Berkley with ISBN: 0425206890, “The Oxford Essential Writer's Reference” is also easy on the wallet. Listed to be sold for $6.99 in the bookstores, from online it can be bought new for about four dollars.

Whether a student, a novice or an experienced writer, or a person who has an interest in the language arts, “The Oxford Essential Writer's Reference” is a valuable book.

Joy Cagil is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Writers. Her education is in linguistics.

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By Joy Cagil