Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr., E.B. White, Roger Angell

Yes, this book has many ideas about how to write well. Unfortunately, the authors do not explain why these ideas work; they just hand down their ideas in an authoritarian tone. Their clipped style without exposition forces the reader to either accept unconditionally, or to shred their advice trying to find the meat.

I like that book. I think it made me a better writer. I think it's meant to be taken at face value. As in, "Do this, and when people read what you wrote it will read better". Just my 2 cents - Nathan

Perhaps. Imagine finding a multiplication table for the first time; you have to really work to figure out how to expand multiplication from that table. Compare that workload to a teacher showing you how to multiply numbers in general and why it works. -- Patrick.