Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style by Virginia Tufte now published!
February 23, 2006 | Edward Tufte
4 Comment(s)
Graphics Press has now published Virginia Tufte’s new book, Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style. A description of the book, some sample pages, and ordering information are posted here.
Virginia Tufte is distinguished emerita professor of English at the University of Southern California.
Graphics Press was created in 1982 in order to publish only my books, but we’ve made an exception for my mother. Her daily behind-the-scenes reviews of this board have contributed enormously to quality and flow of our threads here.
Topics: E.T.
The book sounds wonderful. I will order a copy even if its publication does make
“Graphics Press” a misnomer.
I don’t know about that…typographers and book designers speak of the color of the type, established by the size, shape, glyphs and weight of the typeface, the spacing between the letters and the spacing between the lines, the colors of the ink and the paper, and how these interact visually. Graphic attributes all. I think the name wears well on this volume.
This is a wonderful book and should be in all secondary colleges. I have found that it links well to Grinder and Bandler’s “Structure of Magic I & II” The heightened understanding of both the spoken and written word when supported by research such as this makes listening, reading, thinking and writing move beyond Flatland. After all it is how we interpret what we read and hear that stimulates thought for graphic presentation. Thank you Virginia Tufte.
This book is what I’ve always wanted to write myself for my high school English students, but a lot better. I’ve often begun the grand project of listing every syntactic option — like chess, English writing consists of a few pieces with a few rules yielding infinite options. My efforts seem amateurish and tiny compared with Tufte’s thorough, calm, rich balance of explanation and example. And the examples are great! I’ve used her chapter layouts to restructure my own syllabus and the students really appreciate seeing all the options. Thanks to Tufte’s guiding principles, our work in class has shifted from “rules” to “principles”, from imitation to analysis and, I hope, cognitive development in their approaches to writing.
Along with Joseph Williams’ excellent book “Style: Writing with Clarity and Grace”, Tufte’s book teaches more responsible thought and expression by the sheer grace of its presentation. Superb!