Garner's Modern American Usage
Garner's Modern American Usageis the latest by the author and editor of several legal dictionaries (includingBlack's Law Dictionary), among other works on language and style. The second edition maintains the same basic format as the first (calledDictionary of Modern American Usage), published in 1998: each entry discusses the usage of the word, provides quotations for illustration, and gives citations. There are two types of entries. Word entries, which are generally short, discuss individual words or groups of words. Essay entries discuss topics related to usage and style, including contractions, danglers, punctuation, and subject-verb agreement, among others. Compared to the first edition's entry forcomplexioned;complected, the second edition makes only minor editorial changes; the real difference is the easier-to-read spacing in the updated volume. The second edition shows more substantive changes in the essay entry forPassive voicewithout changing the basic meaning or adding unnecessarily to the length of the essay. New entries includeDVD, Internet, World Wide Web,and, as Garner insists,webpage.TheColumbia Guide to Standard American English(Columbia Univ., 1993) takes a more prescriptive tone thanGarner'sand maintains more succinct entries on usage topics (comparing entries on passive voice, for instance).The New Fowler's Modern English Usage(3d ed., Oxford, 2000) is more descriptive, on the other hand, and includes examples from published fiction, where most ofGarner'squotations come from newspapers and journals. Because of its somewhat conversational style and extensive essays on usage topics likesexism,Garner'smight be best used, as the author suggests, for "browsing a little at a time or for serious reading" and later consultation. Appended material includes a glossary, "A Timeline of Books on Usage," and a selected bibliography. Recommended for public and academic libraries, especially if the institution does not own the first edition.RBBCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved