This is not really a book about grammar; for example, if you misuse the word "literally" or "penultimate" because who don't know what it means, well, bob's your uncle, but you are not struggling with grammar. The book has a lot of examples like these, but doesn't address many of the really difficult grammatical mistakes that I make and that I hear.

I am extremely surprised, for example, that the author does not mention the use of "Fred and I" when "Fred and me" should be used, in for example "Jane played golf with Fred and me". Strangely, the author does mention the use of "myself" in place of "me" (thus, "Jane played golf with Fred and myself") but seems to think people say "myself" because they feel it pretentious to say "me". I believe they say "myself" because they are not sure if "me" or "I" is correct. Maybe it's just I, but me hear people say "with Fred and I" all the time now, and it's driving I crazy, believe you myself.

This is an instructional book with a sense of humor. Rather than be lulled to sleep with rules, this book wittily explains some of the finer points of writing.

Tips abound in this volume of insight into the world of grammar. A fair part of this book is focused on commonly confused words. Knowing the difference in the words will help any writer overcome the false confidence that spell-check and grammar-check give. This book is not just about grammar. The authors included a section on improving spelling and a section on improving writing in general. Each is explained well and has examples.

Another feature of this book worth mentioning is the quizzes given. The answers are in the back, which allows the readers to test their knowledge.

Although the wording is easy to follow, beginners may not get the most out of this book unless they are already familiar with the parts of speech. As a reference for those wanting to upgrade their writing, this fits the bill. I would recommend it.

It was my misfortune to grow up in an educational era that lacked foucs on grammar. My papers were always returned with more red corrections than black type; however, no explaination was given to prevent further (not farther) error.

Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay was the first step in my grammatical journey. It was fun, and easy to follow. I recommend it to anyone who wants to polish up on their grammar usage, or who just wants a basic grammar foundation to work from.

It's found in the sea like pirate's loot
Cut off its tail, and now it's a fruit
Cut off its tail once more and you read
The name of a vegetable small as a seed (Lederer 116)

After reading Richard Lederer's The Word Circus you will be able to look at riddles like these and come up with the answers. The Word Circus is a fun way to become more alert to the words we use every day. Lederer makes you think about words, and he relates them to the circus. His entire book takes you through a circus; he starts with the barker who introduces the book and tells you what you should expect to see in the chapters following. He introduces you to things such as grammargrams, words that are pronounced and consistent only of letter sounds. Like the word cutie, which could be written as QT. He also talks about anagrams, beheadment, curtailment, palindromes, semordnilabs, acrobatic words, charade words and kangaroo words, all different ways to look and play with words. Lederer has fun with words and after reading his book it is easy to begin playing with words yourself. It is a great book to accompany any class studying the elements of words, or just for someone who wants to become more aware of the English language.

Word Circus is a wonderfully entertaining look at the English language. The cartoon illustrations are a great addition. Well worth a look if you are interested in the many different ways the English language can be used to amuse, or confuse.

I never dreamt there could be a book about language that was so much fun. Richard Lederer's text truly creates a circus, complete with acrobats, clowns, animal tamers, lions, tigers--wow! Dave Morice's hilarious cartoons leap off the page and fly through the air with the greatest of ease. There must be at least 300 drawings in so many different styles that there's a surprise on every page. It's amazing that Lederer and Morice have produced a book where words and pictures interact as perfectly as they do. I've never seen this done so well before. This must be the greatest, most entertaining wordplay book of all. I hope they put together a new show soon! Encore!

There is a lot of stuff in this book... some fun, little funny, and a lot that's dumb. If the book was intended just as a historical collection of the clever and corny, it succeeded, but if every entry was meant to entertain, it fell short. I do not regret the purchase and recommend it... just don't expect to do a lot of laughing (but you'll chuckle from time to time.)

This is a very hilarious book

I've had this book for 10 years and everytime I'm with a new crowd of people I bring it out, and soon after people are rolling on the floor. The funniest sections are "Prinderella and The Cince" and "Ladle Rat Rotten Hut". If you practice enough to read these aloud everyone will be amazed and entertained. The only down side is that there are alot of "un-funny" sections, but there are jewels sprinkled within, and for the price I would definitely recommend this.

The great virtue of "Colonial American English" is that it collects many terms which are nowadays unfamiliar, defines them and in most cases provides an appropriate reference to demonstrate how the term was used at the time. For those interested in words and in the period, you can spend many enjoyable hours browsing through the book.

But this is a specialized book and I would recommend it only to historians, word lovers, and perhaps genealogists. The genealogist runs across many of these specialized words in transcribing estate inventories, daybooks and land records, but it certainly isn't for the average genealogist.

In defining particular goods such as types of cloth, the book lists "alamode, nankeen, jane, Kendal cotton, and Kersey." You will find all of these items in a good, standard American dictionary with perfectly adequate explanations. But it also lists "alopeen, bafta, bag Holland, barracan and beggar's velvet," which you won't find in a good, standard dictionary.

"Colonial American English" performs better when explaining cultural phenomena such a game "King and Queen" or the practice of giving money to a soldier to buy a coat "coat money" or the use of "barley water" to reduce inflamation. Standard dictionaries tend to put emphasis on the concrete and to gloss over the culturally ephemeral.

The book exells at defining two and three word phrases such as "Labrador Tea, knee tember and chip hat," largely because such phrases (two and three word combinations) so rarely make it to a standard dictionary.

One of my favorite things is when I am done reading a book I am laughing so hard that tears are running down my face, I am literally fatigued from laughing so hard. This was not one of those books. It had a few moments of chuckle but that's about it.