Imprint: Penguin
Published: 14/11/2019
ISBN: 9780241978511
Length: 240 Pages
Dimensions: 198mm x 15mm x 129mm
Weight: 170g
RRP: £9.99
'What a lovely thing this is: a book that delights in the sheer textural joy of good sentences ... Any writer should read it' Bee Wilson
'Thoughtful, engaging, and lively ... when you've read it, you realise you've changed your attitude to writing (and reading)' John Simpson, formerly Chief Editor of the OED and author of The Word Detective
The sentence is the common ground where every writer walks. A poet writes in sentences, but so does the unsung author who came up with Items trapped in doors cause delays. A good sentence can be written (and read) by anyone if we simply give it the gift of our time.
Enter widely-acclaimed author Professor Joe Moran. First You Write a Sentence is his unpedantic and authoritative explanation of how the most ordinary words can be turned into verbal constellations of extraordinary grace. Using examples ranging from the Bible and Shakespeare to George Orwell and Maggie Nelson, and studies of what can best fire the reader's mind, he shows how we can all write in a way that is clear, compelling and alive. Good writing can even help us notice the world better and live more meaningful lives.
It's an elegant gem in praise of the English sentence.
'Moran is a past master at producing fine, accessible non-fiction' Helen Davies, Sunday Times
'Joe Moran has a genius for turning the prosaic poetic' Peter Hennessy
Imprint: Penguin
Published: 14/11/2019
ISBN: 9780241978511
Length: 240 Pages
Dimensions: 198mm x 15mm x 129mm
Weight: 170g
RRP: £9.99
Joe Moran has a genius for turning the prosaic poetic
Thoughtful reflections on how to write well
What a lovely thing this is: a book that delights in the sheer textural joy of good sentences. Joe Moran has written a book about writing that is itself a collection of sentences to inspire, divert and console. Any aspiring writer should read it, if only to be reminded how crazily hard it is to write words 'in such a way that they can be deciphered in your absence'
Thoughtful, engaging, and lively exposé of the quirks and beauties of the full sentence . . . It's a style guide by stealth: when you've read it, you realise you've changed your attitude to writing (and reading).
Joe Moran is a wonderfully sharp writer, calm, precise and quietly comical . . . Moran's own sentences are perfect advertisements for the aims they espouse
Joe Moran is the most perceptive and original observer of British life that we have
Moran has fast become Britain's foremost explorer and explainer of the disregarded
Moran is a past master at producing fine, accessible non-fiction.
Moran is a wonderful, witty writer, and here he surpasses himself
Whether you're composing an ad for a shop or embarking on your first literary masterpiece, it is indispensable. As an inspiration to savour every encounter, to train your lazy brain to be alert to a beautifully devised phrase, a poetic alleviation, a mood-changing bon mot, it is even more rewarding