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Going well beyond the typical style guide's proscriptions against the passive voice, cliche, and so on, this polemic on writing takes the view that the oppressive opaqueness of much contemporary prose is a moral issue.-- New Yorker Mr. Evans's skills are on display on nearly every page of Do I Make Myself Clear? Why Writing Well Matters. Writing a book about writing well can be hazardous for the author-reviewing one is risky, too-but in this case at least the author and his readers have nothing to fear.-- Wall Street Journal Have you heard of Harold Evans? Sir Harold Evans? Of course you have. He is one of the greatest and most garlanded editors alive....As a master editor and distinguished author, Evans is well qualified to instruct us on how to write well. But can he delight us in the process? After reading this book, I can affirm the answer is yes.-- New York Times Book Review Evans's book offers plenty of practical advice for those seeking to improve their writing skills, with a 10-point checklist to encourage a clear approach.-- Financial Times Clarity and wit have something in common, and it's Harry Evans. He clears a path through the thorny underbrush that stands between us and meaning, and he does it with cutting humor and graceful charm. He certainly does make himself clear, and us, too.-- Alan Alda, Actor and Writer A writing manual so smart and incisive that it could surely benefit anyone-journalist, student, business executive, legislator-who has ever tried to craft an English sentence and fallen short.-- Malcolm Jones, Daily Beast In the tradition of George Orwell, who said that political language is designed to make lies sound truthful, Harry Evans reminds us how important it is to write clearly. Then he shows how. Those of us who have been edited by Harry marvel at his dexterity in unclogging dense prose, and in this book he reveals his secrets.-- Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs and The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution Read this book before you write another word. As original as it is entertaining, Harold Evans' guided tour of every nuance of our language amounts to a masterly reappraisal of English usage for our times by a consummate editor turned writer.-- Anthony Holden editor of Poems that Make Grown Men Cry Harold (Harry) Evans is a writer and thinker of deep and celebrated accomplishment and marked independence, and his new book on how our government hides behind a word it's never even heard of- prolixity - is acutely on target.-- Peggy Noonan author of The Time of Our Lives The great French writer Emile Zola said that his prose style was forged on the terrible anvil of daily deadlines, but the anvil of journalism is no use without the hammer of a great editor. Few if any wordsmiths hit harder than Sir Harold Evans. From the foggy corridors of Fleet Street to the lofty heights of Manhattan publishing, he has dedicated his life to hammering sloppy verbiage into plain English. Witty, wonderfully well written, but above all wise, Do I Make Myself Clear? should be required reading for all who scribble, type, or otherwise 'word process.'-- Niall Ferguson, Senior Fellow, the Hoover Institution, Stanford A timely reminder that precision of language is the writer's greatest weapon. Harry Evans' methodical research and wry eye provide an entertaining lesson in intent, measured and exacting. At a time when public debate is shrill and filled by the overly assertive, Evans gives us a treat of a book that, through the use of practical examples, allows us to bathe in a language of clarity. Do I Make Myself Clear? shows that writing remains the gift of the ultimate explorer. Make more time for the journey.-- David Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief, The Globe and Mail When [Evans] argues for precision in writing, lamenting that the digital age is making us sloppy, we should listen. -- Library Journal Narrator Greg Tremblay has a pleasant, down-to-earth narration style...With engaging vocal variation, Tremblay communicates the book's many examples of poor writing, along with Evans' revisions. -- AudioFile

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Harold Evans, the author of The American Century and They Made America, is a celebrated historian and journalist. He was the editor of the Sunday Times for fourteen years before coming to America in 1984. He is the founding editor of Conde Nast Traveler, editorial director and vice chairman of U.S. News & World Report, the Atlantic magazine, Fast Company, and the New York Daily News. In 2002, Britain's journalists voted Evans the greatest British newspaper editor of all time. He was knighted in Queen Elizabeth's 2004 New Year honors list. Greg Tremblay is a voice talent and Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator.

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