{"product_id":"when-you-catch-an-adjective-kill-it-the-parts-of-speech-for-better-and-or-worse","title":"When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better And\/Or Worse","description":"What do you get when you mix nine parts of speech, one great writer, and generous dashes of insight, humor, and irreverence? One phenomenally entertaining language book\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn his waggish yet authoritative book, Ben Yagoda has managed to undo the dark work of legions of English teachers and libraries of dusty grammar texts. Not since \u003ci\u003eSchool House Rock\u003c\/i\u003e have adjectives, adverbs, articles, conjunctions, interjections, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs been explored with such infectious exuberance. Read \u003ci\u003eIf You Catch an Adjective, Kill It \u003c\/i\u003eand: \u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLearn how to write better with classic advice from writers such as Mark Twain (\"If you catch an adjective, kill it\"), Stephen King (\"I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs\"), and Gertrude Stein (\"Nouns . . . are completely not interesting\"). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMarvel at how a single word can shift from adverb (\"I did okay\"), to adjective (\"It was an okay movie\"), to interjection (\"Okay!\"), to noun (\"I gave my okay\"), to verb (\"Who okayed this?\"), depending on its use. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAvoid the pretentious preposition \u003ci\u003eat\u003c\/i\u003e, a favorite of real estate developers (e.g., \"The Shoppes at White Plains\"). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLaugh when Yagoda says he \"shall call anyone a dork to the end of his days\" who insists on maintaining the distinction between \u003ci\u003eshall\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ewill\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRead, and discover a book whose pop culture references, humorous asides, and bracing doses of discernment and common sense\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003econvey Yagoda's unique sense of the \"beauty, the joy, the artistry, and the fun of language.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-16159375\"\u003eBen Yagoda\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Crown Publishing Group (NY)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/26\/2007\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.62lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.07h x 5.28w x 0.56d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780767920780\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0767920783\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-LAN\"\u003eLanguage Arts \u0026amp; Disciplines\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-LAN006000\"\u003eGrammar \u0026amp; Punctuation\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-LAN\"\u003eLanguage Arts \u0026amp; Disciplines\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-LAN028000\"\u003eStyle Manuals\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HUM\"\u003eHumor\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HUM016000\"\u003eForm | Trivia\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBEN YAGODA teaches English at the University of Delaware, and is the author of four books, including \u003ci\u003eThe Sound on the Page \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eAbout Town: \u003c\/i\u003eThe New Yorker\u003ci\u003e and the World It Made.\u003c\/i\u003e He has contributed to \u003ci\u003eSlate.com, \u003c\/i\u003ethe\u003ci\u003e New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eAmerican Scholar, Rolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eEsquire\u003c\/i\u003e, and writes an occasional column on language for the \u003ci\u003eChronicle of Higher Education\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Crown Publishing Group (NY)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48462895939821,"sku":"9780767920780","price":21.33,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/files\/img_f7765eaf-5ad7-42bd-9a4f-a18dc9e4c05d.jpg?v=1753712519","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/when-you-catch-an-adjective-kill-it-the-parts-of-speech-for-better-and-or-worse","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}