The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)

This book is the ultimate companion piece to "The Chicago Manual of Style." Bryan Garner writes the Grammar section for the CMOS. In this book, he further elaborates on the grammatical concepts that he briefly discusses in the CMOS. This book is a quintessential piece for grammarians and those looking to hone their skills as a writer. On a side note, have you ever wondered why ChatGPT uses so many em dashes? Read this book and you will know why. Bryan Garner uses them on almost every page of this book. ChatGPT uses data pulled from credible sources, and the CMOS is one of them. ChatGPT writes exactly like Bryan Garner because that is who ChatGPT is pulling its data from.

"Proper words in their proper places." Swift said it centuries ago, but no one has really told us how. Garner makes a significant breakthrough here with his comprehensive work. It is an essential reference guide for any writer, more so than Garners English Usage Guide --but why choose, get both. His editorializations while few are pithy and insightful --like "the em-dash is the most underused punctuation mark in the English language"-- will have an immediate impact on your writing. He answers the proverbial question of "that" v. "which," arguing in American usage "that" is the preferred relative pronoun. Garner has a whole section on "Troublesome words and phrases" that uncannily seems to have every problematic word and phrase that I have encountered. You will find something new to learn and implement every day this book sits on your desk.

I love this book! If you are a grammar nerd like me, and take pride in your writing, then you will love this book. I find myself flipping through it over and over again just to learn something new about a random topic. It has everything you would want in a book about grammar and punctuation. You won't regret purchasing it!

This book is a much needed antidote to the plethora of vacuous and confusing grammar books out there. So many of the modern grammars are written by people who have not actually mastered the subject; hence, you will find in them constant misuse of terms or a mixture of modern linguistic terminology with traditional grammar terms. Clearly, such writers of popular grammars do not understand the confusion such mixing often yields. Not with this book. Here is a man who knows both ways of looking at the language and thus writes without that confusion. He is a master of a forgotten science. Grammar, once the foundation of all knowledge, gave way to grammar schools: places where children spent at least six years learning the grammar of their language and its vocabulary. A war on grammar has been waged for the last sixty years, and its casualties are in the hundreds of millions. Bryan Garner is America's new Noah Webster, and he should be honored as such. _Gwynn's Grammar_, despite its idiosyncrasies, is a good place to start before reading this book, simply to give one a profoundly reasoned argument as to why grammar matters, and, hence, why this book matters. Without hyperbole, grammar's neglect threatens our civilization. In Shakespeare's _Henry the VI_, one finds these words, "Thou hast most traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a grammar-school; and whereas before, our forefathers had no other book but the score and the tally [for bookkeeping], thou hast caused printing to be used, and, contrary to the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill." To the tyrant, the teaching of grammar and the printing of books is nothing less than high treason. While we still print books, our culture has deprived people of the necessary tools to read them with great benefit, namely grammar, logic, and rhetoric. If the majesty and grandeur of the English language is, indeed, our greatest possession, then setting out to master it is a most worthwhile pursuit. Let this book be your compass and map.

Bryan Garner expanded the chapter he wrote on usage and punctuation for "The Chicago Manual of Style." If you want general usage advice, the Chicago manual is sufficient, but if you want a detailed look at grammar, this book is ideal. Its best portion that you will find almost nowhere else is an entire chapter on diagramming sentences.

This is an outstanding book, for both learning and reference. It covers all the technical aspects of writing very well. It really is a quality guide to grammar, sentence structure, word usage, and punctuation. Very well done.

I reference this constantly for work — great study hardcover book!

Great product and timely delivery

本書は、I 品詞論(Parts of Speech), II 統語論(Syntax), III 語形成(Word Formation), IV 語法(Word Usage). V 句読法 (Punctuation) などから成る守備範囲の広い参考書である（II 統語論(Syntax)では変形生成文法(ただしいわゆる標準理論まで)にも言及がある）。しかし本書はあくまでガイドブックであって研究書でないので、文法や語法の深い掘り下げを期待すると少しがっかりするかもしれない。上級者はそれぞれの分野の専門書を、たとえば、文法であれば、Larsen-Freeman , D & Marianne Celce-Murcia.( 2015) The Grammar Book: Form, Meaning, and Use for English Language Teachers, 語法であれば同じ著者によるGarner’s Dictionary of English Usage(2016)などを併用すればよいだろう。 「正」「誤」についてどのような切り口をしているか簡単に紹介しておこう。I 品詞論 (Parts of Speech), II 統語論(Syntax)のセクション,ではpoor, better を用いていることが多い。 Poor: Either the teachers or the school board have the authority to act. Better: Either the teachers or the school board has the authority to act. （either A or B では動詞の数はBに一致するのがよい。P.117） V 句読法 (Punctuation) のセクションでは、Not this, But thisを用いている。 Not this: widely-held view But this; widely held view (-ly +過去分詞の限定用法ではハイフォンを省く。P.379) 583頁の大著なので、通読してみると、既知の情報の確認、新しい情報の発見など得るとこが多い。Garner ファンにはお勧めの書である。

Excellent book for punctuation. But tough to understand and follow all rules.

A wonderful read - who would believe it.

This is a well-written grammar guide that covers the subject thoroughly. It has more detail than I need but includes a lot of interesting information about the history of grammar rules. It would work for both the casual reader with an interest in grammar and as a reference book.