On Rereading Zinsser

I have been rereading William Zinsser's excellent book, On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction. It's been delightful. I have probably over, the last 25 years, gone back to read parts of it up to 40 or 50 times, yet I do have trouble putting into practice what he preaches.

But everytime I do go back--I know this is cliche--I mull over something I earlier missed. This happened recently when I read his material on E.B. White. Now, I know Mr. White is in the pantheon of great modern writers. But I just noticed that his writing has a depth that is easy to miss.

Part of that depth relates to the euphony of his writing. For years I studied the topic of sound in writing, and I must say that White is a master at it (though most people, when they read him, think he just writes in a "simple" manner).

Reader Zinsser (and White) always offers hidden pleasures.

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