When William Safire makes a mistake, it's a beaut. When the most widely read language maven of the English language sets out to make fifty mistakes, it's a book -- a funny, self-mocking, and witty guide to good grammar and style.
Don't use no double negative. Verbs has to agree with their subjects. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. For generations students and teachers have been passing around these hard-to-forget, easy-to-understand "fumblerules." Here is the world's largest and most instructive collection (I've told you a thousand times, resist hyperbole), each one followed by a lighthearted essay that recovers the fumblerule.
No wishy-washy advice here. (no sentence fragments.) This opinionated New York Times curmudgeon give you The Word on words in a voice of authority. Safire is as final an arbiter of good usage as anyone can find. And he is as entertaining as he is informative. (And don't start a sentence with a conjunction.)
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