25 Great Sentences and How They Got That Way

by
Geraldine Woods
Published in 2020
by Norton

Culling examples of “beautiful, creative, or resonant” sentences from a variety of sources—fiction, nonfiction, drama, poetry, song lyrics, speeches—Woods considers what makes “form and meaning work together, in synergy.” Sentences by Maya Angelou, James Joyce, Jack Kerouac, Toni Morrison, Virginia Woolf, and others are juxtaposed with those by Neil Armstrong, John F. Kennedy, and even Yoda from Star Wars, grouped according to their distinctive features: structure, diction, sound, connection/comparison, and extremes. The result is a delightfully readable examination of the foundation of literary architecture for writers and language enthusiasts alike.