Blink Book Review: “Woe Is I” by Patricia O’Conner”

By Reba Hull Campbell

I’ve been working my way through some new and not-so-new favorite writing books this summer. One I’ve revisited is the latest edition of Patricia T. O’Conner’s “Woe Is I.” Originally written in 1996, the fourth edition came out in audiobook in April.

If you think the audio version of a book about grammar must be boring, think again. This is a perfect example of how a narrator’s voice can make a topic some may see as boring jump to life.

Plus the audiobook version includes a PDF with lots of grammar tips and tricks. This gave me my fill of hard copy knowledge that I can now tuck up on my bookshelf alongside my paperback second edition of this gem.

Without technical jargon or mumbo jumbo about subjunctive mood or transitive verbs, O’Connor uses clever puns and fun examples. She helps a reader adjust to new rules or remember simple rules that might have fallen by the wayside over the years.

In this updated version, O’Conner tackles some of today’s stickiest grammar trends including the use of them, they, their as grammatically acceptable gender-neutral pronouns. The Associated Press and Merriam Webster (my long-time go-to word usage guides) have weighed in to make these grammatically correct, so I am gradually adapting.

Then there are the timeless conundrums – like the pronoun challenge brought about by the book title. Constructions like this just sound awkward, so I will usually leave them out of my writing or speaking.

But how often do we hear “She is going with Margaret and I” used in everyday language. Unlike “Woe is I” which might sound wrong to the ear but is actually correct, the second example might sound right to some, but isn’t. No … it never is.

One of the best chapters of the book reminds readers that writing is all about the reader, not the writer. She notes that a revered tradition dating back to Greek orators teaches if you don’t know what you’re talking about, “ratchet up the level of difficulty and no one else will ever know.”

A good writer, on the other hand, can express ideas clearly and concisely without engaging the reader in a mental path to distraction.

While some strict grammarians may differ in her approach, O’Connor also takes on some rules she says should no longer see the light of day. Tricky issues such as split infinitives, double negatives and starting a sentence with “but” would all be laid to rest if O’Connor had her way (and I tend to agree with her on most of these – read my list here).

So grammar and punctuation fun? In this book, the answer is yes. Who’d have thunk?

In 2022, Reba Campbell(opens in new tab) set out to get off the screens and back to books for the summer. Her accountability was writing short Blink Book Reviews (opens in new tab)(so short you can read them in a blink). Now it’s an annual summer thing here. Join Reba’s Blink Book Review Facebook(opens in new tab) group to follow along. Reba is president of Columbia, SC-based The Medway Group(opens in new tab) and can be reached at [email protected](opens in new tab).