This 2016 edition makes 'Garner's Modern' arguably the best usage dictionary of English ever published. It is notably expanded from the final 'Modern American Usage' edition of 2009, having an entire short book's worth of additional material. Given the difference in page and print size, probably the entirety of 'The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage' could fit within the material Garner added in his new edition.
The changes include not only internationalization, but also evidence-based evaluations of changing usage. In this, the work is presently unique, as well as timely, as we enter the second Internet generation. It also features a near-perfect balance between descriptive linguistics and prescriptive advice, with the latter based on logic and the goal of clear communication. In this respect, it (like its earlier editions) happily parts ways from the majority of the heavily prescriptive works, which have a tendency to arbitrary proclamations based on authorial or institutional preference (often excessively nationalistic in ways that defy actual reality), and over-reliance on tradition to the point of ossification. Garner, a lawyer as well as a lexicographer, is no 20-something blogger who thinks making your text "pop" with "coolness" is more important than professional-quality prose that won't look ridiculous in 5 years when your precious buzzwords sound corny (for a good laugh in this vein, pick up a used copy of the once oh-so-hip 'Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age'). Garner is not afraid to lay down a rule – a best practice – when ones seems warranted, unlike some other 21st-century style guides, but he gives clear rationales. He is, however, careful about legitimate dialectal variance, and of the distinctions between different registers of formality. While I describe 'Garner's' as a usage dictionary (like
'Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage', 4th ed.
,
'The Associated Press Stylebook', 2015 ed.
, and
'New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors', rev. ed.
), It also has short essays on various topics of style and grammar included among the shorter entries, and a separate table of contents for them. Note: This book also supersedes 'The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style', a compressed version of an earlier edition of 'Garner's Modern American Usage'.
When Garner does get prescriptive, his tone can be a bit mock-harsh, and less coddling that some others' writing advice, but plenty of us would consider this a strength. Garner also has the lawyer's gift for weaving dry, isolated facts into a persuasive flow, making the book difficult to put down despite being mostly an alphabetical list of items that, taken individually, are trivia. The cross-referencing, consistency, and comprehensiveness of the work rapidly build up an unexpected level of synergy between entries after only a few page skimmings; in-depth reading is very rewarding, despite the entry-based format. This kind of writing is solidly grounded in the "plain English" principles advanced by Orwell and Gowers, being concise, clear, and certain in its purpose, without being terse or dull. It's not like reading a Webster's dictionary. Perhaps the only real flaw in 'GMEU' is that Garner is a writer and editor – an applied user of language more than a student of it – and not an academic linguist, so his usage of certain linguistic terms can be a bit loose at times, both in this book and some of this other works
If you have limited bookshelf or desk space, the three references you most need for writing today, for a modern, world-wide audience, are '
'The Chicago Manual of Style', 16th ed.
(North American formal style); 'New Hart's Rules' (international formal style; use
Ritter's 2005 edition
, as the more recent "update" badly lost its sense of purpose, seeming afraid to actually recommend anything much of the time); and perhaps above all this new edition of 'Garner's Modern Usage'. Both 'Chicago' and 'New Hart's' are style manuals in the chapter-based sense, covering grammar, punctuation, capitalization, italics, citations, etc., in a more programmatic fashion that Garner's essays in the present volume, though he wrote the grammar chapter of 'Chicago', and a greatly expanded version of that material is forthcoming as of this writing, under the title 'The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation' (may 2016). It is no longer necessary to have a comprehensive paper dictionary around if you live or work in tight quarters, since the advent of OxfordDictionariesOnline.com, Dictionary.Cambridge.org, and (with entires from both Random House and Collins) Dictionary.com, all of which are freely available.
If you have more room, also get the aforementioned other usage dictionaries. For one thing, the 'AP Stylebook' is essential for the North American variety of less formal journalism and marketing style (for British/Commonwealth news and PR writing, see the various online style guides maintainedt by 'The Guardian', 'The Economist', and other UK newspapers; there is no British equivalent of the monolithic 'AP Stylebook'). If you need to cover science and technology, add
'Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers', 8th ed.
(a chaptered style manual, invaluable for its coverage of numbers and units, just for starters).
Even if you are not much of a writer, 'Garner's' will be great subway/bus reading, though it is not a lightweight book. It will be of more benefit to the average person than any guide to business or student writing when it comes to usage. It certainly contains much more value than a dozen of the cutesy little advice books with funny names. If you need help with the basic mechanics of writing well – grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, good paragraph formation – see
'The Elements of Style', 4th ed
for the gist, or any of the various college and university textbooks on English composition (though be prepared to pay textbook prices). An affordable crash course, however, can be found in
'The McGraw-Hill Handbook of English Grammar and Usage', 2nd ed.
But get 'Garner's', too. Because this new edition is actually tracking the trajectories of many aspects of language change (i.e., it's telling you the direction in which shifting usage is moving, how fast, and how far), this may well be the only style guide available in 2016 that will still be useful in 2026.
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The best, most comprehensive book on English usage ever published
The best, most comprehensive book on English usage ever published. It is — truly — revolutionary in the field of usage lexicography. (You can read my interview with the author about this book at Business Insider.)
Top reviews from other countries
jdc
Perfect in combination with other books.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2020ExecutorElassus
Necessary and Sufficient for excellent English
Reviewed in Germany on June 24, 2017