In his relentless campaign to drag slang out of the sewer and brothel, and into the drawing-room and academy, Green has no rival. He is the Dr Johnson of slang, its Putin, its Mr Toad, its Dickens.

[Green's] kaleidoscopic memoir charting three decades exploring our mother tongue's more exotic margins is vigorous, gonzoid, learned and entertaining.

This memoir of a life spent exploring the grubby margins of the English language reveals plenty about both that language and Green himself.

[A] rollicking memoir.

Unusual… Moving… Magnificent.

Meet the guardian of grammar who wants to help you be a better writer. Benjamin Dreyer sees language the way an epicure sees food. And he finds sloppiness everywhere he looks.

An informative and entertaining handbook on how to write clearer English. It’s pithy, witty and a near perfect example of the kind of writing it advocates.

Playful, smart, self-conscious, and personal . . . One encounters wisdom and good sense on nearly every page of Dreyer’s English.

It is Benjamin Dreyer's intense love for the English language and his passion for the subject that make the experience of reading Dreyer's English such a pleasure, almost regardless of the invaluable and practical purpose his book serves in such dark and confusing times for grammar and meaning.

Benjamin Dreyer's brilliant, pithy, incandescently intelligent book is to contemporary writing what Geoffrey Chaucer's poetry was to medieval English: a gift that broadens and deepens the art and the science of literature by illustrating that convention should not stand in the way of creativity, so long as that creativity is expressed with clarity and with conviction.

Dreyer can help you . . . with tips on punctuation and spelling. . . . Even better: He’ll entertain you while he’s at it.

This work is that rare writing handbook that writers might actually want to read straight through, rather than simply consult.

Destined to become a classic.

A fascinating guide to grammatical ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ - practical and useful

If learning about the pillars of punctuation and grammar doesn’t excite you, let Benjamin Dreyer change your mind. As the copy chief of Random House, Dreyer has invaluable insider knowledge on how to become a better writer, and he shares his enthusiasm about everything from how to use split infinitives to the value of the semicolon. Here, he analyzes the English language without dipping into the drab technicalities, crafting a pleasing read for anyone who has an appreciation for the written word.

Dreyer promises to reveal “some of the fancy little tricks I’ve come across or devised that can make even skilled writing better”, and does so with accuracy, style, and humour […] you can’t help warming to a writer who has – perhaps through a process of déformation professionnelle if nothing else – become this attuned to nuances of meaning, and even spelling.

Boisterously well written ... I recommend it highly.

Pleasurable and instructive […] You can read Dreyer’s English right through with unalloyed enjoyment, and learn a lot from it: not only from its rulings but from its attitude. Sane, tetchy, prankish and intensely pragmatic. Benjamin Dreyer is wise and bitterly experienced and fantastically good company. You should buy his book and read it.

Useful and interesting

[The Dictionary of Lost Words] was so excellent, and is the story we all need right now. Shining on important light on the lost stories of women's lives, it was hugely thought-provoking

Enchanting, sorrowful, and wonderfully written, the book is a one-of-a-kind celebration of languageand its importance in our lives. A must-have

The Dictionary of Lost Words concerns itself with the gaps between the lines of the dominant male narrative, choosing instead the usually overlooked, everyday language of ordinary women. It's a masterfully written, beautiful first novel that tells a fascinating story of language, love and loss

An utterly compelling and beautiful story that effortlessly merges history, gender politics, love and loss. To say this book is ambitious is an understatement, but Williams delivers brilliantly, and whilst I enjoyed the story in itself, the book has prompted me to want to discover more about this history and context of the OED... Without doubt, this is my favourite book of the year so far and, I suspect, it will be in the running come the end of the year too

This thought-provoking and atmospheric novel about dictionaries will have you enthralled... A gorgeous story about women, the power of language and an insight into the work of lexicographers

Seamlessly blending fact and fiction, this is a beautifully crafted book, filled with memorable characters

Real and fictional timeliness are intertwined in this inventive new novel

An elegantly constructed love story full of memorable characters... Pippa Bennett-Warner captures them all, and her warm, slightly husky voice enhances the magic

An elegantly constructed love story full of characters we grow care deeply about. Pippa Bennett-Warner's warm, slightly husky voice enhances the magic... a flawless listening experience