A bit of a slog, but only because it was packed with non-fluffy content. Pinker argues for a more nuanced stance when adopting writing rules pushed by manuals of style, and backs his argument up with deep analysis of those rules. He is an academic, through and through, and the text is filled with lines like “subjunctives are noticeable only when the verb has a third-person singular subject…” Bottomline: I learned some things, but it would take rigorous coursework and multiple, intensive reads of the material to really ingest all that Pinker sets out to convey.