Tag: fiction

Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace by Joseph L. Williams and Joseph Bizup

This is not an easy book to find. It was not one I knew of by reputation, even though I'm a bookseller and a nerd about the craft of writing. It was lauded in a book I read last summer, The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities by Eric Hayot. From that book's … Continue reading Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace by Joseph L. Williams and Joseph Bizup →

Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L. Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh

I recently completed a re-read of Dorothy L. Sayer’s Wimsey novels and decided to continue with Thrones, Dominations, which Sayers began, referred to in her letters many times, but never completed. After her death in 1957, she left behind some handwritten notes about the book, as well as a 179-page handwritten manuscript. There was an … Continue reading Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L. Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh →

Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers, Part II, “The Legal Problem”

I'll save you some time and trouble. The gist, laid out in chapter XIV "Sharp Quillets of the Law," concerns a new-at-the-time law: if a person died without a will after 31 December 1925, the estate went to the next of kin with emphasis on the vagaries of the word "issue." In absence of "issue" … Continue reading Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers, Part II, “The Legal Problem” →