h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Actually, as I understand it, Mr. White first heard of the Elements of Style when he was still a student of Mr. Strunk's. Mr. Strunk had put it together as a guide for teaching his english classes. Mr. White was asked yrs later to update the original manuscript and make any necessary changes to keep the text current since there had been some small changes to the language. In the forward of the book he (Mr. White) talks of removing 'bewhiskered' text. So he wasn't strictly a co-author of the book. More an editor who updated it from the manuscript of his own boyhood.

Good point, but White also added on a very famous final chapter on word choice. For that reason, most consider him co-author, and not merely updater.

Sooo glad you read it. White is a fascinating character.

Touche. I had forgotten about that chapter he added on. Yep, I read it when I was in college. I wasn't required for the course I was studying, but I found a copy in the school bookstore and bought it. Some say that the "elements of style" is outdated or some such nonsense, but I think it still has value today. Books (about writing) have come and gone since EofS but (I think) none have come close to the brief clarity of its message. Of course my first exposure to Mr.White's work wasn't his writing but the original animated movie of "Charlotte's Web." It was made in 1973. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070016/

My grandmother gave it to me as a gift. I remember wondering, "who is this EB White guy anyway - didn't he write Charlotte's Web? I never liked that book - why should I let him tell me how to write English?" I've recently gotten over that reservation.

Some of it is rather old and stuffy - like the rule about never starting a sentence with "however". However, on the whole it is an excellent and succinct summary of English usage, and the chapter at the end reminds the reader what there is to strive for: that easy, elegant flow.

Have you read any of his essays? They're terrific (humble and radiant) social commentary, and much of what he says still stands today. People just don't change.