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| Creator: University Of Chicago Press Staff
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Category: Book
List Price: $55.00
Buy New: $34.65
You Save: $20.35 (37%)
Rating:  102 reviews
Sales Rank: 909
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 984
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 2.1
ISBN: 0226104036
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.0270973
EAN: 9780226104034
Publication Date: August 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Has outlived its usefulness in an Internet Age May 11, 2007
21 out of 26 found this review helpful
I work as a freelance commercial writer. Since I deal with words for a living, I've built a substantial library of reference material. One would think that my Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) would be threadbare from constant use.
If only that were the case.
Our language bends and flexes, and most writing references keep pace with those changes. The CMS may, in fact, bend and flex with the best of them. Unfortunately, most people won't know if it does because accessing the wealth of information in its pages is dramatically crippled by an inability to locate the information users need.
The index for the CMS fails to consider how users actually search for information. The beauty of a Web-based search engine comes through its adaptability to user input. Different groups of keywords will lead a user to the necessary information. But the rigid indexing system of the CMS defies this kind of use. Its creators thought they knew how to sort information, but time and again, I simply cannot locate the information I need to know by using the index. This makes even simple info searches trying. In the end, this lack defeats the entire purpose of the CMS. Like the joke about the sound of one hand clapping, what is the usefulness of a printed reference you can't reference?
While some grace must be afforded the compilers of the CMS for sheer breadth of information, I'm routinely baffled why some obvious needs aren't covered. For instance, the correct rules for writing lists of items don't take into account those lists that use something other than colons to precede them. The CMS doesn't cover multiple-response lists preceded by ellipses or by a partial sentence. That seems to be a terrible oversight. If these simple lists are missing, what else isn't covered?
Likewise, the usage examples seem obvious compared with the more complex sentences I'm asked to write. A wider variety of given examples would help. Otherwise, I'm left to wonder if more than one rule exists to cover the sentence I'm writing and I just can't find those other rules in the CMS.
The University of Chicago Press offers an electronic version of the CMS, but the reviews here at Amazon universally denounce the interface. This is ironic, since the proper interface makes or breaks a reference. We may not think of a paper book as having an interface, but it's the poor interface of the current print edition of the CMS that garners it this lukewarm review.
IF one can find needed information, this reference excels. Yet that inability to find what one needs in the CMS makes it less than useful in today's Internet Age. I find more proper grammar usage using search engines than I do paging through the CMS. I hope its editors are listening.
 Oh, I Hate This Book, But -- May 23, 2006
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
I hate this book. Can I say it clearer? Following its detailed formatting for bibliographies is challenging, but I need it. I don't like that either. What can I say? It is making me a better writer, and assisting me in my ability to persuade publications to print my work. It helps me earn money.
Like the Associated Press book, it is an absolute requirement for any writer serious about presenting his work professionally and with a consistent style.
Keep both Chicago and the AP on your desk if you write grants, white papers, marketing communications, press releases, feature articles. You get the idea. The only kind of professional business writer who may not need "The Chicago Manual of Style" might be a pure ad copywriter. The rest of us, even those us who are hip and modern, and work largely online, will not escape from it.
More academic publications require Chicago. More journalistic publications require AP. See? You need them both. In fact, you'll need several other style manuals if you make a living (or intend to) as a writer and/or editor. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. (Look! I used Chicago already. Notice the use of commas in a series.)
This is not a book I can say, "It is difficult to use. Buy its competitor." There is only one "Chicago Manual of Style." You will learn the structure quickly enough.
Buy this book. Hate it, but in an appreciated way.
I fully recommend this book.
Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com
Everything you need is right here. October 5, 2005
19 out of 19 found this review helpful
This is to "The Elements of Style" what a good encyclopedia is to a good dictionary. "The Elements of Style" will tell you the basics of what you need to know, but "The Chicago Manual of Style" will tell you everything else.
Everything else.
Every nagging question you've ever had about writing and grammar and punctuation is in here.
The proper rules for ellipsis marks?
Check.
The complete rules for making and organizing an index?
Check.
Extensive elaborations on the proper use of quotation marks, the active voice, and Roman numerals?
Check, check, check!
It's all here. It's all here, it's clearly written, and it's as complete as can be. It also has a good index for easier access to all its information.
If the book has any faults, it's that it employs a really baffling system of arranging its material, using a system of numbers and decimal points that's never really explained, and that even professional editors have puzzled over.
If you're a writer though, and if you want your work to look and read as professional as clear and as possible, you really ought to own and study and learn from this book. It can only help you.
 Completely Inaccessible March 7, 2006
19 out of 33 found this review helpful
Having primarily worked in academics with APA and MLA style I was recently forced to use the Chicago style for an essay. This book needs to be completely overhauled. The layout and format is completely inaccessible for first time users. The APA and MLA manuals are FAR easier to navigate than this one. There is a distinct lack of information regarding common problems. Only buy this if you must, and if you must, then plan on spending most of your time navigating the pages for things you won't find.
 Fine as expected. . . .BUT August 13, 2004
14 out of 18 found this review helpful
Chicago is just a book that anyone in publishing needs. This edition has an excellent added grammar section and a very good "use of words" list.
BUT. One of the most helpful aspects of previous editions has been destroyed. Previous editions had an nearly unimaginable helpful table of word hyphenation. I know people who bought CMS on the basis of that table.
In the 15th edition, the table has been replaced by a very difficult to read and scan list. The list has good information but is really tedious.
It's a shame that the hard work that went into revision has been negated by this egregious choice. Production departments are abuzz is disappointment.
It's even more shameful that users have to wait 10 years for the probelem to be fixed by returning to the table.
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