The Reader Over Your Shoulder

“The best book on writing ever published” (Patricia T. O’Conner, author of Woe Is I). When Robert Graves and Alan Hodge decided to collaborate on this manual for writers, the world was in total upheaval. Graves had fled Majorca three years earlier at the start of the Spanish Civil War, and as they labored over their new project, they witnessed the fall of France and the evacuation of Allied forces at Dunkirk. Soon the horror of World War II would reach British soil as well, as the Luftwaffe began bombing London in an effort to destroy the resolve of the English people. Graves and Hodge believed that at a time when their whole world was falling apart, the survival of English prose sentences—of writing that was clear, concise, and intelligible—had become paramount if hope were going to outlive the onslaught. They came up with forty-one principles for writing, the majority devoted to clarity, the remainder to grace of expression. They studied the prose of a wide range of noted authors and leaders, finding much room for improvement. Successful communication could mean the difference between war and peace, life and death, and they were determined to contribute to its survival. The importance of good writing continues today, as obfuscation, propaganda, manipulative language, and sloppy standards are all too common—and this classic guide is just as useful and important as ever. Note: This edition restores the full, original 1943 text. “To see what really expert mavens can do in applying their rule-based expertise to clearing up bad prose, get hold of a copy of The Reader Over Your Shoulder.” —The Atlantic

Discusses the English language and writers from Shakespeare, Sterne, and Defoe to Lawrence, Orwell and Graham Greene

'What do you think are the gifts of cancer?' Even now, all these years later, when I recall the question, a sense of shock still resonates. I thought of Julian's gruelling treatment regime, about how all seven of his children were coping seeing him so unwell, so reduced. Then, in the silence that followed, like the first sprouting of a tiny plant, I began to think about all the good things that Julian and I had experienced because of his illness; amid the strain and fear we had shared precious moments of love and kindness that might not have otherwise happened. I began to cry. 'Perhaps you could think of Julian's cancer in another way,' the counsellor suggested. 'Maybe it's like a little bird on your shoulder that's reminding you how to live.' Over a decade ago, award-winning journalist Lucy Palmer lost her beloved husband Julian, leaving her alone to raise their three young children on a farm south of Sydney. This beautifully written memoir tells the story of how Lucy and Julian fell in love with each other and with Papua New Guinea, and traces their family's return to Australia to face the daunting challenges of Julian's journey with cancer. Looking back with both sadness and joy, Lucy's honest and thoughtful account of finding hope and meaning where none seemed to be, will move and inspire all who read it. A Bird on My Shoulder offers us new and surprising ways to think about love and death, about the worst that can happen and what it can mean.

A Look over My Shoulder begins with President Nixon’s attempt to embroil the Central Intelligence Agency, of which Richard Helms was then the director, in the Watergate cover-up. Helms then recalls his education in Switzerland and Germany and at Williams College; his early career as a foreign correspondent in Berlin, during which he once lunched with Hitler; and his return to newspaper work in the United States. Helms served on the German desk at OSS headquarters in London; subsequently, he was assigned to Allen Dulles’s Berlin office in postwar Germany. On his return to Washington, Helms assumed responsibility for the OSS carryover operations in Germany, Austria, and Eastern Europe. He remained in this post until the Central Intelligence Agency was formed in 1947. At CIA, Helms served in many positions, ultimately becoming the organization’s director from 1966 to 1973. He was appointed ambassador to Iran later that year and retired from government service in January 1977. It was often thought that Richard Helms, who served longer in the Central Intelligence Agency than anyone else, would never tell his story, but here it is–revealing, news-making, and with candid assessments of the controversies and triumphs of a remarkable career.

Martin Emerson's website has made him something of a cult figure to those who believe that, if not having all the right answers, at least ?Emerso” has all the right questions.

An Angel on My Shoulder By: Jerry Rosenblum and Jack Neworth About the Book Advance Praise for Jerry Rosenblum • "Jerry spreads joy and acts of kindness." Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio- Cortez • "You're an A' student and a wonderful storyteller." Jay Johnson, Professor Emeritus College • "Your mother was a delight and so is your memoir. Mazel Tov! Elliot Gould • "Your book is fast –paced, poignant and funny." Former Santa Monica Mayer , Mat Trives •As I recently turned 90, Jerry is my new role model." Ed Asner Excerpts “After my father’s funeral, my aunt Mildred admonished, ‘Jerry, now you’re the man of the house.’ I was 12 and it was the height of the Depression. How was I going to do it?” “Panicked by Orson Welles’ ‘War of the Worlds,’ radio broadcast, my boss, Mr. Wiener, who owned the drug store, raced out the door. I assumed to fight the aliens or sell them some Pepto-Bismol.” “During WWII, my racist co-workers threatened, ‘We don’t appreciate you with the nig*er.’ “I’ll eat my lunch with whoever I want,’ I said defiantly, hoping they didn’t see my knees knocking.” “On a troop ship heading home on leave, I rolled 11 straight passes. If I’d been in Vegas, I’d have owned the hotel.” “My most charismatic customer was Muhammad Ali, the most relaxed was Bing Crosby, and the most menacing was mobster Alan Dorfman who wound up murdered, gangland style.” “Because of the unexpected steep grade, I fell. I lay helpless in the street, 96-years old, bleeding and unable to get up. But after being rescued I wondered, had I finally met my guardian angel?”

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SOCIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE brings to students, researchers and practitioners in all of the social and language-related sciences carefully selected book-length publications dealing with sociolinguistic theory, methods, findings and applications. It approaches the study of language in society in its broadest sense, as a truly international and interdisciplinary field in which various approaches, theoretical and empirical, supplement and complement each other. The series invites the attention of linguists, language teachers of all interests, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, historians etc. to the development of the sociology of language.