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as the sympathetic readership. We are the oversensitive readership. We must always be portrayed as perfectly equal with men.

Girls were not always trained to rejoice in "girl power" and to be offended by anything with a perceived "male dominance" message. I, as a girl, am more outraged by the quivering, pussyfooting writer. When the masculine default is used to describe a group of people, I can see both the male and female parts of the story. I can be sympathetic with both genders. When the writer uses pluralism, "he or she," or the gender-neutral terms, he spotlights his terror of my perceived edginess. I'd rather read writing with backbone that respects the natural characteristics of both genders.

With the exception of "sexism," Zinsser's work does have backbone. In all of Zinsser's advice, he constantly calls for control. In the beginning of the book, he begs the writer to be both considerate of the reader and confident in his own writing (26). He explains that to be considerate of the reader is to strive for the best possible mechanics, to earn the right to spend the reader's time. Being confident is simply allowing for personality. When in control of the quality of his writing, a writer is free to confidently be himself (26).

In the chapter on beginnings and endings, Zinsser calls for control of rambling. He wrote this chapter for me. Strong endings are as elusive to me as the prayer at the end of certain sermons is to a weary congregation. Zinsser's solution is simple: when you're done, stop. (66) With his example of the end to a good play, he says, "We are startled to find the scene over, and then delighted by the aptness of how it ended. What delights us is the playwright's perfect control." (66)

Throughout the rest of the book, Zinsser pleads and commands control. With examples and principles, he instructs the writer to use every tool in moderation. He leaves his readers with the impression that control in writing is respectable and winning.

With his call for control, I find irony. Of the 294 pages, 22 are devoted to mechanics specifically meant to respect the reader's time and aid his attention deficit. Throughout the rest of the book, Zinsser insists on the use of these mechanics out of consideration for the reader. He makes it well understood that writers should keep it simple, clutter-free, interesting, and easy to read. And yet, Zinsser wastes countless pages on redundant examples and explanations.

Halfway through the book, Zinsser comments,

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