Audiobooks online: genre "Writing & Linguistics"

Witty, opinionated alphabetical examples of what Bierce considered poor (American) English and advice on alternatives - entertaining, thought-provoking, occasionally outdated but so interesting to see how style and taste have changed. Summary by Philippa....

This is a collection of 23 essays based on interviews conducted by Joyce Kilmer with some of the most famous authors of the time (1917). Kilmer's idea, as outlined in the Introduction, was that there is a deep divide between those who write literature, and those who write about l...

Throughout the ages, languages continue to adapt and change. English, being a relatively new language, is a nice example of that. Though the English vocabulary is continually evolving, the system of punctuation has remained constant for the most part. This means that grammar b...

“The Philosophy of Style,” explored a growing trend of formalist approaches to writing. Highly focused on the proper placement and ordering of the parts of an English sentence, [Spencer] created a guide for effective composition. Spencer’s aim was to free prose writing from as...

Cratylus (ΚΡΑΤΥΛΟΣ) discusses whether things have names by mere convention or have true names which can only be correctly applied to the object named and may have originated from God. (Summary by Geoffrey Edwards)...

The author, an avid book collector, calls for the better protection of books against the "enemies" which lead to their physical destruction. In a series of brief chapters, he details the losses caused by raging fire, floods of water, noxious gases, sheer neglect, ignorant bigotry...

Language: we all use it and few of us think about the form it takes on the page. But how did the transmittal of ideas in written form evolve from Egyptian hieroglyphics to the ABCs in use in most countries around the world today? This work, written by a librarian and scholar, dra...

I address myself to the man or woman of talent—those people who have writing ability, but who need instruction in the manipulation of characters, the formation of plots, and a host of other points with which I shall deal hereafter. Although no school could turn out novelists to o...

"It was part of my daily work, for a good many years, to read the principal English newspapers and reviews; it has been part of my work, all the time, to read the more important English novels, essays, poetry and criticism. An American born and bred, I early noted, as everyone el...

This collection of the 195 known, publicly-printed speeches of Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) was compiled by Paul Fatout and published by the University of Iowa Press. The speeches are in the Public Domain, and our thanks go to the University of Iowa for making them avai...

This is a very readable scientific account of Swearing and Cursing in the English Language. Not only is an enlightening historical account given, but also several excursions are made into other languages and certain historical periods. - Summary by Carolin...

For one, I have never been one of those who apologize for my frank and never-ending delight in mystery stories. Their mazes have led me unwearied through miles of printed pages, and if only the problem has been worth while, and its pursuit has led along surprising ways, past shud...