
The Sense of Style
The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
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Narrated by:
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Arthur Morey
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By:
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Steven Pinker
About this listen
A short and entertaining book on the modern art of writing well by New York Times best-selling author Steven Pinker.
Why is so much writing so bad, and how can we make it better? Is the English language being corrupted by texting and social media? Do the kids today even care about good writing? Why should any of us care?
In The Sense of Style, the best-selling linguist and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker answers these questions and more. Rethinking the usage guide for the 21st century, Pinker doesn’t carp about the decline of language or recycle pet peeves from the rulebooks of a century ago. Instead, he applies insights from the sciences of language and mind to the challenge of crafting clear, coherent, and stylish prose.
In this short, cheerful, and eminently practical book, Pinker shows how writing depends on imagination, empathy, coherence, grammatical knowhow, and an ability to savor and reverse engineer the good prose of others. He replaces dogma about usage with reason and evidence, allowing writers and editors to apply the guidelines judiciously, rather than robotically, being mindful of what they are designed to accomplish.
Filled with examples of great and gruesome prose, Pinker shows us how the art of writing can be a form of pleasurable mastery and a fascinating intellectual topic in its own right.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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- By Danielle on 06-15-21
By: Roy Peter Clark
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Enlightenment Now
- The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 19 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West but worldwide.
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We live in the best of all times
- By Neuron on 02-25-18
By: Steven Pinker
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The Magic of Reality
- How We Know What's Really True
- By: Richard Dawkins
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Lalla Ward
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Richard Dawkins, the world’s most famous evolutionary biologist, presents a gorgeously lucid, science book examining some of the nature’s most fundamental questions both from a mythical and scientific perspective. Science is our most precise and powerful tool for making sense of the world. Before we developed the scientific method, we created rich mythologies to explain the unknown. The pressing questions that primitive men and women asked are the same ones we ask as children. Who was the first person? What is the sun? Why is there night and day?
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Audio version is superb for us grown-ups
- By Michael Dowd on 10-10-11
By: Richard Dawkins
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How to Write a Sentence
- And How to Read One
- By: Stanley Fish
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Like a seasoned sportscaster, Fish marvels at the adeptness of finely crafted sentences and breaks them down into digestible morsels, giving listeners an instant play-by-play. Drawing on a wide range of great writers, from Philip Roth to Antonin Scalia to Jane Austen, How to Write a Sentence is much more than a writing manual—it is a spirited love letter to the written word, and a key to understanding how great writing works. It is a book that will stand the test of time.
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Excellent book for writers
- By missbizinla on 07-15-23
By: Stanley Fish
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Dreyer's English
- An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style
- By: Benjamin Dreyer
- Narrated by: Benjamin Dreyer, Alison Fraser
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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As Random House’s copy chief, Dreyer has upheld the standards of the legendary publisher for more than two decades. He is beloved by authors and editors alike - not to mention his followers on social media - for deconstructing the English language with playful erudition. Now, he distills everything he has learned from the myriad books he has copyedited and overseen into a useful guide not just for writers but for everyone who wants to put their best prose foot forward.
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You'll be horrified at a lifetime of usage errors.
- By RTaylor on 05-16-19
By: Benjamin Dreyer
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Writing Down the Bones
- By: Natalie Goldberg
- Narrated by: Natalie Goldberg
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Original Recording
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Here is a new collector's edition of this modern classic as you have never heard it before, read by Natalie Goldberg herself and then infused with her most personal reflections about this "magic manual" for all writers. Try these ingenious, Zen-based exercises to expand your writing skills - or just for fun.
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The Substance
- By Krissy D. on 07-09-10
By: Natalie Goldberg
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Rationality
- What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 21st century, humanity is reaching new heights of scientific understanding - and at the same time appears to be losing its mind. How can a species that developed vaccines for COVID-19 in less than a year produce so much fake news, medical quackery, and conspiracy theorizing? Pinker rejects the cynical cliché that humans are an irrational species - cavemen out of time saddled with biases, fallacies, and illusions.
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Steven Pinker's Frozen Worldview from the 90s
- By Ryan Booth on 11-12-21
By: Steven Pinker
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Accessory to War
- The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military
- By: Avis Lang, Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Narrated by: Courtney B. Vance, Neil deGrasse Tyson - introduction
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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In this fascinating foray into the centuries-old relationship between science and military power, acclaimed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and writer-researcher Avis Lang examine how the methods and tools of astrophysics have been enlisted in the service of war. "The overlap is strong, and the knowledge flows in both directions," say the authors, because astrophysicists and military planners care about many of the same things: multi-spectral detection, ranging, tracking, imaging, high ground, nuclear fusion, and access to space. Tyson and Lang call it a "curiously complicit" alliance.
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Inspiring, educational, patriotic.
- By Kevin on 09-17-18
By: Avis Lang, and others
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Think with Pinker
- How to Be a Better Critical Thinker
- By: Steven Pinker
- Narrated by: Steven Pinker, Various, Tim Harford, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Highlights
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Cognitive scientist Professor Steven Pinker has spent his life thinking about thinking, and now he wants us to join him. With the aid of his critical thinking toolkit, he hopes to help us make smarter choices, become more rational, gain a greater understanding of the confused world we live in—and maybe even become better citizens. In this fascinating series, produced in partnership with the Open University, he examines the different ways the human brain can be tripped up, from understanding probability to the difference between correlation and causation.
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not all pinkerton works are created equally
- By Dick Grayson on 06-01-24
By: Steven Pinker
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The Elements of Style
- By: William Strunk
- Narrated by: Charles Featherstone
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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"The Elements of Style" is an American English writing style guide in numerous editions. The original was written by William Strunk Jr. in 1918, and it was published by Harcourt in 1920, comprising eight "elementary rules of usage," ten "elementary principles of composition," "a few matters of form," a list of 49 "words and expressions commonly misused," and a list of 57 "words often misspelled."
By: William Strunk
What listeners say about The Sense of Style
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- Jeremy W. Adams
- 01-23-15
Great audio book! Will be listening to it again.
This is the first audio book that I have listed to by Pinker. Usually i read his books.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Stuart
- 08-07-17
great read, great advice
this book is worth more than all the composition classes I've had throughout high school and college.
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- Mantas
- 06-01-20
Great book, but a bit too complex for listening
Overall, the book is great. However, some chapters are meant to be read and not listened, as they present complex rules about syntax and grammar.
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- Pink Sparkle
- 10-10-14
Defence against Grammar Nazis
The content of this book is indispensable, and the narration of the audiobook suits the writing style. If you are looking for help and formulating your writing, and are confused by some of the ambiguous usage advice, you may find resolution and an ally.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Zach Brunson
- 06-14-21
A good addition to a writer's collection
This book is a good addition to a writer's collection - especially for people in academia. Although a little stuffy in tone, it provides some great insights and guidance. I would recommend getting a physical copy to follow along, since some of the examples are easier to follow in writing.
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- LEE
- 03-22-18
Common sense approach that changed my mind
I enjoyed other books by Steven Pinker but this is my favorite. He solved a host of grammar problems for the time being.
I've been corrected on grammar a lot and confused a lot. One can't please everyone unless one never talks.
For Pinker the main thing is communication, not following rules. The rules change; they keep changing.
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- Terri
- 03-25-16
A stylish read
As an editor, avid reader and occasional writer, I appreciate and agree with most of what Stephen Pinker has to say about the language, the rules that govern it and the myths and misconceptions that surround it. But in the few areas where we disagree, I find his arguments often unconvincing and occasionally hypocritical and even ironic. Even so, I did learn and thing or two, so it was a worthwhile investment of my time. He is a brilliant man.
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3 people found this helpful
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- A User
- 05-19-17
A well-researched, beautifully written guide.
This is a masterwork from a remarkable scholar writing with grace and class. It is jam-packed with brilliant insights into written English.
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- Martin Fierro
- 01-19-15
Excellent Author on Writer's Craft
Steven Pinker brings delight to an amazing breadth of intellectual disciplines. So when I saw he had focused on writing, I had high expectations. They were met.
It isn't your father's writing handbook. (My mother was an English Professor so I have seen quite a few.} Nor is it a how-to technical manual like the Hargrave Handbook.
Instead (like other Pinker books) this works from deep principles, to solve the daunting problems of written communication.
I also bought the book, so I could easily refer back to areas that I want to apply better in my own writing.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Zhang
- 08-06-18
best of the best
The first 3 chapters are great for general writing, in any language.
The following chapters have many gems on writing in English.
Great book.
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