An ideal text for courses in advanced composition. Understanding Style uncovers some of the inherent mystery of style and explains how to craft good sentences and combine them into writing that is clear and readable.

While similar books often fail to address the relationship between written style and spoken voices or to discuss the ways that writers control rhythm and emphasis precisely the kind of issues that give style its reputation as a difficult topic - this unique book adapts the findings of modern linguistic research into detailed writing advice seldom found elsewhere.