A review by dillarhonda
Do I Make Myself Clear? Why Writing Well Matters by Harold Evans

Harold Evan's latest book Do I Make Myself Clear? is as much an ode to clear prose as it is an invective against sloppy thinking. It is also a fantastic practical guide for anyone looking to strengthen their writing. Focusing exclusively on nonfiction, Evans pulls positive and negative examples and dissects their strengths and weaknesses. His book is full of useful lists of common errors, simple shortcuts to clarification, and tables breaking down how an article could be edited. What makes this volume stand out from others of its kind is Evan's warmth and humor. His own prose is spectacularly lucid and even when he's untangling a particularly contorted sentence, his wit never wavers. As with most editorial pronouncements, there's a fair share of Evan's personal taste that comes across as indelible law. But taken with a miniscule grain of salt, this is a book that should be on the shelf of every aspiring writer right next to Strunk and White's (much less entertaining) Elements of Style.