Pinckert’s Practical Grammar: A Lively, Unintimidating Guide...

Pinckert’s Practical Grammar: A Lively, Unintimidating Guide to Usage, Punctuation and Style, Robert C. Pinckert (Writer’s Digest), “bridges the gap between the stuffy rules of yore and the more lively language habits of today.” The author’s “purpose is to build confidence regardless of the reader’s previous experience in writing or speaking, and he succeeds” (Steven LaMarine).

Military Objectives in Soviet Foreign Policy, Michael MccGwire (Brookings). “As gripping as a mystery novel and free of technical jargon . . . . MccGwire’s conclusions should force a great debate on future U.S. defense policy and on the Strategic Defense Initiative (Jack Burby).

Antonia Saw the Oryx First, Maria Thomas (Soho). This “beautiful, sometimes difficult, first novel about the deepening affinity between a white woman doctor and a black woman ‘healer’ in East Africa” is “a work of astonishing energy and vision” (Richard Eder).

Te Kaihau: The Windeater, Keri Hulme (Brazziler). The author is “a world-class writer who has taken it upon herself to acquaint international readers not only with the little-known and largely verbal Maori culture but also with the way Maoris live now” (Elaine Kendall).

The Civilized Engineer, Samuel C. Florman (St. Martin’s). “Altogether commendable,” although the author’s call for a world of polymaths “is more a cry of the heart than a call to action” (Lee Dembart).