Mary Norris has spent more than three decades in The New Yorker's copy department, maintaining its celebrated high standards. Now she lends her vast experience, good cheer, and finely sharpened pencils to some of our language's most vexing problems in a boisterous book as full of loife as it is of practical advice. Readers--and writers--will find in Norris neither a scold nor a softie but a wise and witty new friend in love with language and alive...

Good writers follow the rules. Great writers know the rules -- and follow their instincts! Finding the right words, in the right order, matters -- whether you're a student embarking on an essay, a job applicant drafting your cover letter, an employee composing an email ... even a (hopeful) lover writing a text. Do it wrong and you just might get an F, miss the interview, lose a client, or spoil your chance at a second date. Do it right, and the world...