Accidence Will Happen

Rezensionen / Stimmen

Entertaining and refreshing...a welcome corrective to the notion that there is an objective standard we should strive for, and a celebration of a language in flux * THE SUNDAY TIMES * Kamm's tolerance is certainly more preferable to the bigotry of sticklers who treat grammatical lapses as crimes or sins * OBSERVER * A joyous and joyously liberating assault on the 'rules' of grammar which are little more than a hodgepodge of contradictory superstitions. Kamm's weapons are erudition and raw polemical vigour...It is the most sensible style guide I have read, not least because Kamm always puts clarity first. I have only had ACCIDENCE WILL HAPPEN for a week, and have already referred to it dozens of times * THE SPECTATOR * Delights by its puncturing of pomposity...and its identification of pronouncements that have no foundation in scholarship. It leaves the reader clear that debate in print about English usage is a branch of both entertainment and politics * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT * A superb book, and I challenge any pedant to read it and not emerge with a more liberal view on usage * INDEPENDENT * [Kamm's] case against the pedants is compelling: peddling made-up rules, they either stray into contradiction or are forced to denounce Milton as sloppy * THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH * This book came as a great relief. Although I feared I had a shaky grasp of formal grammar, Kamm reassures me that I have - in fact - acquired mastery as a native English speaker. With bracing confidence, he lays into pedants, sticklers and prescriptivists everywhere. Nevertheless, he's no anarchist: this book provides invaluable advice on writing with style, wit and verve * TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT * Kamm's case against the pedants is compelling ... and he really does manage to make pedants look ridiculous * THE DAILY TELEGRAPH * A clear and well-informed dismantling of some of the most frequent pedantic peeves. A handy book for anyone teaching English * TEACHING ENGLISH * Informed by astonishing erudition on the history and grammar of the English language -- Steven Pinker * OBSERVER *