''Follett's Modern American Usage'' is the book published with the title ''Modern American Usage'' which was left in draft form and unfinished by

Wilson Follett Roy Wilson Follett (March 21, 1887 – January 7, 1963) was an American writer known for writing the draft form of what became '' Follett's Modern American Usage'', which was unfinished at his death and was completed and edited by his friend Jacque ...

at his death. It was completed and edited by his friend

Jacques Barzun Jacques Martin Barzun (; November 30, 1907 – October 25, 2012) was a French-American historian known for his studies of the history of ideas and cultural history. He wrote about a wide range of subjects, including baseball, mystery novels, and ...

in collaboration with six other editors. It is a usage guide for contemporary

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances i ...

. ''Modern American Usage'' covers issues of usage, prose composition, and style, including

English grammar English grammar is the set of structural rules of the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, Sentence (linguistics), sentences, and whole texts. This article describes a generalized, present-day Standard English ...

, syntax, and literary techniques.

Pre-publication

Wilson Follett devoted his last years to composing a book on a subject he had studied all his life: the usage of American English. However, when he died more than two-thirds of the manuscript were still in first draft. People who had read this draft felt that it would be intolerable for this work never to be published, so his friend

undertook the task of finishing and revising the work on the understanding that he would have help. This came from a group of writers and teachers of English:

Carlos Baker Carlos Baker (May 5, 1909, Biddeford, Maine – April 18, 1987, Princeton, New Jersey) was an American writer, biographer and former Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature at Princeton University. He received his B.A. from Dartmouth College and ...

, Frederick W. Dupee,

Dudley Fitts Dudley Fitts (April 28, 1903 – July 10, 1968) was an American teacher, critic, poet, and translator. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Harvard University, where he edited the ''Harvard Advocate''. He taught at The Choate Sc ...

, James D. Hart,

Phyllis McGinley Phyllis McGinley (March 21, 1905 – February 22, 1978) was an American author of children's books and poetry. Her poetry was in the style of light verse, specializing in humor, satiric tone and the positive aspects of suburban life. She won a ...

, and Lionel Trilling.

Editions and related books

The first edition was published in 1966 as ''Modern American Usage'', in both hardback and paperback editions. In 1979, an edition edited by Erik Wensberg appeared and this was reissued in hardback in 1998.

Reception

As the quotations that follow show, Follett was generally compared favourably with Fowler, doing for Americans, as it were, what Fowler had done for the writer of

British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...

. He was considered by expert reviewers to have struck the right balance of prescriptivity and to have trodden the right line between outdated, schoolmarmish rules and laissez-faire liberality in matters of grammar and usage. The novelist, poet, literary critic and journalist

Malcolm Cowley Malcolm Cowley (August 24, 1898 – March 27, 1989) was an American writer, editor, historian, poet, and literary critic. His best known works include his first book of poetry, ''Blue Juniata'' (1929), his lyrical memoir, ''Exile's Return ...

reckoned that the ''Guide'' was "Sensible, vigorous, and cogent ... Follett deserves a place on the shelf beside Fowler." Poet and critic

Mark Van Doren Mark Van Doren (June 13, 1894 – December 10, 1972) was an American poet, writer and critic. He was a scholar and a professor of English at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, where he inspired a generation of influential writers and thin ...

wrote "This is a book that any conscientious writer will continue to consult as long as he lives."

Clifton Fadiman Clifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman (May 15, 1904 – June 20, 1999) was an American intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality. He began his work with the radio, and switched to television later in his career. Background Born in Bro ...

wrote: "A work comparable to Fowler's classic ''Modern English Usage''. Eliot Fremont-Smith wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'': "Few have been more outspoken n their attack on the permissive viewthan the late Wilson Follett; and his ''Modern American Usage'' ... may be taken as the most detailed and sustained attack so far on the notion that anything goes – or should go." The critic and author

Louis Kronenberger Louis Kronenberger (December 9, 1904April 30, 1980) was an American literary critic (longest with ''Time'', (1938-1961), novelist, and biographer who wrote extensively on drama and the 18th century. Background Kronenberger was born in Cincinnat ...

wrote that Follett's book was "the most highminded book of its kind since Fowler, and perhaps the only book with comparable credentials, sensibilities, and standards."

References

*''Modern American Usage'' by Wilson Follett

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'' 1966 non-fiction books Style guides for American English

Pre-publication

Editions and related books

Reception

See also

References

Similar works