Bryan A. Garner

LawProse Lesson #446: Become a strong reader

By / Bryan A. Garner /
Step one in becoming a strong writer is to become a strong reader. We recommend that you undertake a concerted effort to read the best expository writing of our day. You might well start with the nonfiction pieces in Harper’s, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic. It’s a matter of upgrading your understanding of how effective exposition works—especially …

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Presidential-Debate Bingo: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Watching the 2020 Debates

By / Bryan A. Garner /
Print bingo cards for yourself, your family members, and your friends. You’ll be monitoring the contenders’ modes of argument. It’s a great way to teach high schoolers and college students—and for others to hone their critical thinking. Professor Garner will be live-tweeting the September 29 debate to call the bingo numbers: @BryanAGarner. You’ll be listening …

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LawProse Notice: Adopt-a-Bobble-Bryan Program 2015.

By / Bryan A. Garner /
Adopt-a-Bobble-Bryan Program 2015. On January 13th, 20 Bryan Garner bobbleheads will be looking for good homes. (Yes, for the first time ever, we’re selling the already-legendary bobbleheads for $500 each.) All proceeds will go to the Campaign for Equal Access to Justice for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program. Submit your request by e-mail to kcheng@lawprose.org …

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Happy 25th Anniversary to LawProse!

By / Bryan A. Garner /
At LawProse, we’re celebrating our 25th Anniversary! Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of LawProse—the 1990 brainchild of Bryan A. Garner. To commemorate this important milestone, look for special events every month. We’ll start off in January with our Adopt-a-Bobble-Bryan program. On January 13th, 20 Bobble Bryans will be looking for good homes. (Yes, …

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Newly Released Book

By / Bryan A. Garner /
For immediate release Something in the Way RosePen Books, an imprint of LawProse Inc., announces the release of Bebe Bralley’s Something in the Way, the poignant, courageous story of a wife bravely helping her husband cope with Alzheimer’s disease. In fall 2007, Bebe begins to notice that her husband, Bill, is acting strange. First it’s …

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Hirsch Report

By / Bryan A. Garner /
In the wake of my friend Judge Richard A. Posner’s review of the Scalia–Garner book Reading Law—a review that accused Justice Scalia and me of manifold distortions and errors despite our extensive fact-checking—I retained a respected San Francisco lawyer, Steven A. Hirsch, to investigate and assess these allegations. The purpose was to have an independent …

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RosePen Books Releases New David Foster Wallace Book: Quack This Way

By / Bryan A. Garner /
Nearly five years after David Foster Wallace’s tragic death, Bryan A. Garner—the lexicographer whose work Wallace rhapsodized about—has released a new book containing the last long interview that Wallace gave. Entitled Quack This Way (Wallace’s phrase), the interview explores in great depth the fields that brought Wallace and Garner together: language, writing, English usage, scholarship, …

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A Bizspeak Blacklist

By / Bryan A. Garner /
It’s mission-critical to be plain-spoken, whether you’re trying to be best-of-breed at outside-the-box thinking or simply incentivizing colleagues to achieve a paradigm shift in core-performance value-adds. Leading-edge leveraging of your plain-English skill set will ensure that your actionable items synergize future-proof assets with your global-knowledge repository. Just kidding. Seriously, though, it’s important to write plainly. …

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A Well-Crafted Letter Still Gets the Job Done

By / Bryan A. Garner /
Business letters aren’t a quaint thing of the past. Write them well, and you’ll create a lot of goodwill with clients, partners, and vendors. You’ll increase your profits, too — by getting key customers to renew large orders, for example, or persuading service providers to charge you less for repeat business. Here are some pointers …

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Don’t Anesthetize Your Colleagues with Bad Writing

By / Bryan A. Garner /
It seems obvious that you shouldn’t put your audience to sleep, doesn’t it? It should also be obvious to people who deliver dull presentations or talk in circles at dinner parties — but consider how many boring speakers you’ve had to endure. The most engaging communicators avoid trite expressions, whether in conversation or in writing. …

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Model Arbitration Clause

By / Bryan A. Garner /
Here’s a model arbitration clause drafted by the redoubtable Cary Cooper of Toledo—a partner at Cooper & Kowalski. It’s intended to streamline and simplify arbitration. What do you think of it? (Disclaimer: If you’re not a lawyer, then consult one before using this clause.)

The Year 2012 in Language & Writing

By / Bryan A. Garner /
January The Los Angeles Times reported on local poet and journalist John Tottenham’s crusade against the pandemic overuse and abuse of the word awesome. The British expat has launched what he calls the Campaign to Stamp Out Awesome, complete with stickers, t-shirts, and a manifesto, all available at the campaign’s headquarters, the Echo Park bookstore …

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