How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One

by Stanley Fish

Overview

A New York Times bestseller—“Part ode, part how-to guide to the art of the well-constructed sentence” (NPR).

Some appreciate fine art; others appreciate fine wines. Stanley Fish appreciates fine sentences. The New York Times columnist and world-class professor has long been an aficionado of language. Like a seasoned sportscaster, Fish marvels at the adeptness of finely crafted sentences and breaks them down into digestible morsels, giving readers an instant play-by-play.

In this entertaining and erudite gem, Fish offers both sentence craft and sentence pleasure, skills invaluable to any writer (or reader). How to Write a Sentence is both a spirited love letter to the written word and a key to understanding how great writing works; it is a book that will stand the test of time.

“Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style” —Adam Haslett, Financial Times

“A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.” —Slate

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062006851
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	181
Sales rank:	445,189
Lexile:	1270L (what's this?)
File size:	789 KB

About the Author

Stanley Fish is a professor of law at Florida International University in Miami, and dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He has also taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Johns Hopkins University, and Duke University. He is the author of fourteen books, most recently Fugitive in Flight and Save the World on Your Own Time. He lives in Andes, New York, and New York City.

What People are Saying About This

Roy Blount Jr.

“Like a long periodic sentence, this book rumbles along, gathers steam, shifts gears, and packs a wallop.”

Maria Popova

“How to Write a Sentence isn’t merely a prescriptive guide to the craft of writing but a rich and layered exploration of language as an evolving cultural organism. It belongs not on the shelf of your home library but in your brain’s most deep-seated amphibian sensemaking underbelly.”

Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein

“How to Write a Sentence is a must read for aspiring writers and anyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of literature. If extraordinary sentences are like sports plays, Fish is the Vin Scully of great writing.”

Editorial Reviews

…for those who "belong to the tribe of sentence watchers," the fun comes from the examples cited throughout. John Updike, Jane Austen, Elmore Leonard, Herman Melville and Ernest Hemingway are among the greats quoted…
—The Washington Post

Yvonne Zipp

A whole book on the lowly sentence? Stanley Fish, America's English Professor, confides that he belongs "to the tribe of sentence watchers," and shares his passion and learning through an array of examples from sentence-making masters, among them Milton, James, Dr. King, Sterne, Swift, Salinger, Elmore Leonard, Conrad, and Gertrude Stein. For Fish, language is logic. He stresses how the sentence, regardless of length—whether declarative or embroidered with qualifiers—is a structure of logical relationships. He discusses the all-important opening sentence and closing sentence, especially as the latter can be isolated from its dramatic context to convey full rhetorical effect. The reader is advised to begin with form; with practice, writers can develop three basics of style (subordinating, additive, satiric) that will allow them to make an emotional impact with their words. In the end, the craft of sentence writing is elevated to the very center of our inner lives. Fish plays the opinion card well, though a piling on of example after example, particularly of long sentences drawn from literature or theology, might leave more experienced sentence-makers to cry, "Enough already!" (Jan. 25)

Publishers Weekly

Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style.” — Financial Times

“A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.” — Slate

“[Fish] shares his connoisseurship of the elegant sentence.” — The New Yorker

“Stanley Fish just might be America’s most famous professor.” — BookPage

“How to Write a Sentence is a compendium of syntactic gems—light reading for geeks.” — New York magazine

“How to Write a Sentence isn’t merely a prescriptive guide to the craft of writing but a rich and layered exploration of language as an evolving cultural organism. It belongs not on the shelf of your home library but in your brain’s most deep-seated amphibian sensemaking underbelly.” — Maria Popova, Brain Pickings

“[Fish’s] approach is genially experiential—a lifelong reader’s engagement whose amatory enthusiasm is an attempt to overthrow Strunk & White’s infamous insistences on grammar by rote.” — New York Observer

“In this small feast of a book Stanley Fish displays his love of the English sentence. His connoisseurship is broad and deep, his examples are often breathtaking, and his analyses of how the masterpieces achieve their effects are acute and compelling.” — New Republic

“A sentence is, in John Donne’s words, ‘a little world made cunningly,’ writes Fish. He’ll teach you the art.” — People

“This splendid little volume describes how the shape of a sentence controls its meaning.” — Boston Globe

“Like a long periodic sentence, this book rumbles along, gathers steam, shifts gears, and packs a wallop.” — Roy Blount Jr.

“Language lovers will flock to this homage to great writing.” — Booklist

“Fish is a personable and insightful guide with wide-ranging erudition and a lack of pretension.” — National Post

“For both aspiring writer and eager reader, Fish’s insights into sentence construction and care are instructional, even inspirational.” — The Huffington Post

“If you love language you’ll find something interesting, if not fascinating, in [How to Write a Sentence].” — CBSNews.com

“[A] slender but potent volume. Fish, a distinguished law professor and literary theorist, is the anti-Strunk & White.” — The Globe and Mail

“You’d get your money’s worth from the quotations alone…if you give this book the attention it so clearly deserves, you will be well rewarded.” — Washington Times

“The fun comes from the examples cited throughout: John Updike, Jane Austen…all are cited throughout.” — Washington Post

“How to Write a Sentence is the first step on the journey to the Promised Land of good writing.” — Saudi Gazette

“How to Write a Sentence is a must read for aspiring writers and anyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of literature. If extraordinary sentences are like sports plays, Fish is the Vin Scully of great writing.” — Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, authors of "They Say/I Say"

“Coming up with all-or-nothing arguments is simply what Fish does; and, in a sense, one of his most important contributions to the study of literature is that temperament…Whether people like Fish or not, though, they tend to find him fascinating.” — The New Yorker

From the Publisher

A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.”

Slate

Language lovers will flock to this homage to great writing.”

Booklist

This splendid little volume describes how the shape of a sentence controls its meaning.”

Boston Globe

How to Write a Sentence isn’t merely a prescriptive guide to the craft of writing but a rich and layered exploration of language as an evolving cultural organism. It belongs not on the shelf of your home library but in your brain’s most deep-seated amphibian sensemaking underbelly.

Maria Popova

In this small feast of a book Stanley Fish displays his love of the English sentence. His connoisseurship is broad and deep, his examples are often breathtaking, and his analyses of how the masterpieces achieve their effects are acute and compelling.

New Republic

How to Write a Sentence is a compendium of syntactic gems—light reading for geeks.

New York magazine

A sentence is, in John Donne’s words, ‘a little world made cunningly,’ writes Fish. He’ll teach you the art.

People

[Fish] shares his connoisseurship of the elegant sentence.

The New Yorker

Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style.

Financial Times

Stanley Fish just might be America’s most famous professor.

BookPage

[Fish’s] approach is genially experiential—a lifelong reader’s engagement whose amatory enthusiasm is an attempt to overthrow Strunk & White’s infamous insistences on grammar by rote.

New York Observer

For both aspiring writer and eager reader, Fish’s insights into sentence construction and care are instructional, even inspirational.

The Huffington Post

How to Write a Sentence is a must read for aspiring writers and anyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of literature. If extraordinary sentences are like sports plays, Fish is the Vin Scully of great writing.

Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein

You’d get your money’s worth from the quotations alone…if you give this book the attention it so clearly deserves, you will be well rewarded.

Washington Times

How to Write a Sentence is the first step on the journey to the Promised Land of good writing.

Saudi Gazette

Like a long periodic sentence, this book rumbles along, gathers steam, shifts gears, and packs a wallop.

Roy Blount Jr.

If you love language you’ll find something interesting, if not fascinating, in [How to Write a Sentence].

CBSNews.com

The fun comes from the examples cited throughout: John Updike, Jane Austen…all are cited throughout.

Washington Post

Fish is a personable and insightful guide with wide-ranging erudition and a lack of pretension.

National Post

[A] slender but potent volume. Fish, a distinguished law professor and literary theorist, is the anti-Strunk & White.

The Globe and Mail

The fun comes from the examples cited throughout: John Updike, Jane Austen…all are cited throughout.

Washington Post

Language lovers will flock to this homage to great writing.

Booklist

Both deeper and more democratic than The Elements of Style.

Financial Times

[Fish] shares his connoisseurship of the elegant sentence.

The New Yorker

A guided tour through some of the most beautiful, arresting sentences in the English language.

Slate

"A sentence is, in John Donne’s words, ‘a little world made cunningly,’ writes Fish. He’ll teach you the art."

People Magazine

"How to Write a Sentence is a compendium of syntactic gems—light reading for geeks."

New York Magazine