What gets my neighborhood excited

The 15th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style — published, of course by the University of Chicago Press — will be released on August 15th. It’s the first new edition since 1993. I have no doubt this will elicit groans from those under the age of 18. who over the next few years will ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

The 15th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style -- published, of course by the University of Chicago Press -- will be released on August 15th. It's the first new edition since 1993. I have no doubt this will elicit groans from those under the age of 18. who over the next few years will be receiving this weighty tome as a bar/bat mitzvah, confirmation, or graduation gift. However, according to the Chicago Tribune, my neighborhood's reaction has been somewhat different:

The 15th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style — published, of course by the University of Chicago Press — will be released on August 15th. It’s the first new edition since 1993. I have no doubt this will elicit groans from those under the age of 18. who over the next few years will be receiving this weighty tome as a bar/bat mitzvah, confirmation, or graduation gift. However, according to the Chicago Tribune, my neighborhood’s reaction has been somewhat different:

Even in this age of ubiquitous blogging and dress-down Fridays — an age when rhetorical etiquette presumably is a quaintly touching anachronism, like a dance card at a cotillion — the new version of the manual was eagerly awaited, said Jack Cella, general manager of the Seminary Co-Op bookstore in Hyde Park. “For the past few years, it seemed like every second or third person who came in here wanted to know when the new edition was coming out,” he said. “It’s been one of the most anticipated new books in years.” (emphasis added)

I will admit to some eagerness as well, if for no other reason than to see how they handle citations of electronic texts. For more on this, there’s a nice Q&A tool from the press, and Gary Lutz has already written a critique of the new grammar section for Slate.

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

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