Mike boarded a plane today, feeling rough. I went to the lab to get my annual blood work done. Just as the first few days back after a trip take time, so do the first few days after someone I love leaves the house empty and quiet.
I am planning to curl up in bed--it's finally wintry here!--and read. I'm putting aside A Field Guide to Getting Lost ("an amalgam of personal memoir, philosophical speculation, natural lore, cultural history, and art criticism") in favor of a more straightforward narrative to get lost in: Gloria Steinem's My Life on The Road.
I'm also dipping in to another good book: The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century by Steven Pinker--fascinating to a anyone, like me, who loves to read about the changes in the ways we think and use language.
Why does style in writing matter? he asks--after pointing out the limits of Strunk and White and other style manuals often used as bibles by writers and editors.
He answers his own question this way: "Style...adds beauty to the world. To a literate reader, a crisp sentence, an arresting metaphor, a witty aside, an elegant turn of phrase are among life's greatest pleasures."
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