The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier: How to Solve the Mysteries of Weak Writing

I've just bought my second copy of this book. As an editor, I see sentences like this one every day: Looking over my shoulder as I ran, the strange man was gaining on me. What the (imaginary) writer of this sentence meant is something like, "A glance over my shoulder told me the strange man was gaining ground." What she (again, still imaginary) wrote was, "The strange man looked over my shoulder and saw that he was gaining on me." Why? Because the opening phrase must modify the subject of the sentence: the strange man. A lot of people seem to think that grammar is boring, dry, and difficult to understand. This fun, informative book will change your mind if you think that way. It's not an in-depth, exhaustive study. It will hit the high points in a memorable way. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

This book showed the most common mistakes we do in our writing, and a few tips how to rid your wordy and boring script into something clear and concise.Easy to read, easy to understand the core of the problems and the answers, though I struggled with finding good solutions to the problems, which is why I thought it was nice to see that there were answers to the problems in the back - giving a good idea to how something could be written instead. I miss seeing more examples of replacement-words just to pinpoint you in the right direction.I think the stories were quite enjoyable and entertaining. This book was a fun learning experience.

Bonnie Trenga's book was a nice little refresher and also offers up very helpful tips for your everyday writing.In her introduction she says that as a professional book editor she keep encountering the same errors and problems over and over again and decided to write this book in response. I am glad she did, because it gave me the chance to examine my own writing a little more critically and see if I have been falling into the same pitfalls as the countless writers she's been dealing with.The style of the book is slightly humorous but always right to the point. There is no dry wasteland of textbook grammar to be found here, but instead concise examples that you can directly apply and/or compare to your own writing. It is a book of guidance rather than a sterile grammar primer. That alone makes in invaluable, because it makes it so much more accessible.

I bought my copy of this book in 2017 from Amazon. I would give it 5 stars for the content if I could, but unfortunately, every third or fourth page is a blank where there should be print. I guess it's too late to return it, and as no other reviewers are complaining about this, I guess I just received a dud copy.

I don't buy many books but in the case of the The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier I discovered I was using this book all the time so a borrowed copy from the library would not do. I not only solved several problems I had in writing but now I know why not using passive voice, weak verbs, or too many ing words weakened by writing. I can avoid those situations and producee stronger chapters for the book I'm working on. After each chapter, I grab my "little black book" to review my writing skills. It's not a very big book, but it contains concise information for the word smith.

A must for the mystery buff, and anyone else, who needs some help with general writing skills. The author uses the mystery theme to demonstrate topics. The exercises are useful in immediately applying what you learn. The author is a proponent of concise writing-hallelujah! The cover is smooth glossy and it feels nice. I like my ereader but there are some books I prefer in paper form. This is one, although I will click on the link that requests it for the Kindle. The book is small enough to be portable and fits nicely in a pocket of my briefcase. Highly recommended.

A simple, straightforward little book that may wake a writer up to his mistakes.

I love the layout of The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier: How to Solve the Mysteries of Weak Writing. It is well written, easy to understand, and very helpful. Bonnie Trenga provides an excellent reference to have when writing and editing. I highly encourage and recommend this book to everyone!

This is a grammar book with a twist. The twist is that it is fun and interesting to read. The book aims to teach you to be able to write in the same way. It is not about basic rules of grammar, but how to make your writing more engaging and active. The examples are clear and make the learning easy. So if you want to improve your writing and make it easier to read then this is a 'must have book'. Whilst there are many books about grammar and writing styles, this one fills a unique niche that sort of sits between these.

I really like the book. Thank you

¿Sabes cuando tienes los típicos fallos tontos que, de haberlo pensado mejor, quizá ni hubieras cometido? ¿Sabes cuando algo "no te suena inglés" y, efectivamente, no cumple las normas de estilo básicas de un texto en lengua anglosajona? Pues este libro te ayuda con esos pequeños avatares. Muy interesante, tanto en presentación como en aspectos abarcados.

Kinda nowhere humor. Mostly just a basic grammar book.

英語のネイティブ向けに書かれた「書き方読本」である。表紙と書名がしゃれているのでつい買ってしまったが、初歩的な内容であまり役に立たなかった。たとえば、I sold many sock’s at the swap meet.(誤) p.93I sold many socks at the swap meet. (正)とある。英米の八百屋さんがよくやることからgreen grocer’s apostrophesとも呼ばれる誤りだが、日本人はあまり複数のsとアポストロフィsを間違えることはしない。次の例はどうだろうか、His body language was similar to the previous interrogation.(誤)　p.99His body language was similar to that during the previous interrogation.(正)thatを補う問題は受験参考書にもでているので日米共通の誤りだろうか。さらに次の例はどうであろうか。(1) The cop chased a young man down the alley who was trying to carry off two heavy bags of nickels. 5セント硬貨が入った重い2つの袋を持ち去ろうとしている若者を追いかけて、警官は路地を走った(2) The cop ran down the alley as he chased a young man was trying to carry off two heavy bags of nickels.（１）だと、alley が関係代名詞説の先行詞のように取れるので、(2)のようにすべきという。しかし評者には(1)のママでも誤解の余地はないのでこのままで良いと思われたので、念のためネイティブスピーカーに聴いてみると同じ意見だった。評者は(2)のasの使い方に気を引かれた。日本人でasをこのように使いこなせる人はなかなかいないと思う。全体として本書をみると、参考になる意見とあまり参考にならない意見が相半ばしているように思われる。