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Title: I appreciate what he attempted, but...
Review: I appreciate what the author was attempting to do, but do not feel the book succeeds. It is too dry to read on its own (as a sort of William Safire-style curmudgeon rant on language), and not comprehensive enough to be a useful desk reference.In addition, the first 30 or so pages are actually a biography of the author (who died a few years ago) by one of his colleagues. Perhaps to someone researching Lasch himself (who was, admittedly, a renown academic) this material would be interesting, but it isn't in the context of language reference.
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