Woe Is I

A revised and updated edition of the iconic grammar guide for the 21st century.

In this expanded and updated edition of Woe Is I, former editor at The New York Times Book Review Patricia T. OConner unties the knottiest grammar tangles with the same insight and humor that have charmed and enlightened readers of previous editions for years. With fresh insights into the rights, wrongs, and maybes of English grammar and usage, OConner offers in Woe Is I down-to-earth explanations and plain-English solutions to the language mysteries that bedevil all of us.

"Books about English grammar and usage are... never content with the status quo," OConner writes. "Thats because English is not a stay-put language. Its always changing--expanding here, shrinking there, trying on new things, casting off old ones... Time doesnt stand still and neither does language."

In this fourth edition, OConner explains how the usage of an array of words has evolved. For example, the once-shunned "they,""them," and "their" for an unknown somebody is now acceptable. And the battle between "who" and "whom" has just about been won, OConner says (hint: It wasnt by "whom"). Then theres the use of "taller than me" in simple comparisons, instead of the ramrod-stiff "taller than I.""May" and "might,""use to" and "used to," abbreviations that use periods and those that dont, and the evolving definition of "unique" are all explained here by OConner. The result is an engaging, up-to-date and jargon-free guide to every readers questions about grammar, style, and usage for the 21st century.