The Might of White
How could I have omitted the most necessary title from Mr. Shapiro’s Most Excellent Eighth Grade English List?
While all of the books on the list were works of fiction, The Elements of Style represented the first time I discovered the perfect non-fiction title. That it was about grammar and editing should tell you a lot. I even wrote a piece in Object Essays called Book on the grammar textbook Mr. Shapiro assigned.
Of course, I had read E.B. White’s fiction, in the form of Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web, and could not have delighted more in his charming animal tales. That they were pared with the heartbreakingly beautiful illustrations of the great Garth Williams is a testament to what was known as the Golden Age of children’s publishing.
The Elements of Style took a subject that few were fond of and made it so simple and somehow humorous that it was irresistible. I believe I own four copies. It even gets honorable mention in my forthcoming book for struggling writers: “The loyalty that Strunk and White devotees displayed for this slim elegant volume can know no better example than a friend’s late mother, who kept a copy in her car, reaching for it anytime she had a few moments to spare before an appointment.”
And there is no question that my own writing style, always striving for the “clear and clean”, owes everything to the three powerhouses of this reading era: White, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald (who I’ll discuss next week).