[entire Daigon poem at top of this page]

Andrew Fluegelman and Jeremy Joan Hewes. Writing in the Computer Age: Word Processing Skills and Style for Every Writer. Garden City, New York, Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1983

Andrew Fluegelman and Jeremy Joan Hewes have produced a book which should be required reading for two groups of academics: those who are interested in learning how to use a word processor, but who are intimidated by the instruction manuals for specific word processors; and those who are old hands at the processing of words, but who could use some advice on how to become more efficient writers on the word processor.

Fluegelman and Hewes are somewhat different in that their material is not the usual love song in praise of the writer's best helper since the Xerox machine. In place of lyric compliments, they give practical advice. The first portion of the book is devoted to skills; in this section they assume that their audience knows very little, if anything, about a word processor, but would like to learn. So they explain disk drives and formatting disks, word wrap and block moves.

The second part of the text is devoted to style: what the word processor can do to enhance a writer's ability to write easily and efficiently and effectively. They offer advice on what, when, and how to save; they offer a good system for naming files and for timely backing-up. The person new to the world of computers will enjoy the entire book; those who are already acquainted with word processing will benefit from this last section.