Foreword

When I die, I am going to have a handful of books placed in my coffin. I need them to ensure for eternity that my grammar is correct, that I'm entertained, and that I'm inspired. The books are:

• The Chicago Manual of Style
• The Elements of Style (William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White)
• Writers on Writing (Jon Winokur)
• If You Want to Write (Brenda Ueland)

Now whoever buries me will have to squeeze one more book into my coffin: Netiquette by Virginia Shea. Where I'm going, there will be electronic mail (and it won't be owned by Microsoft). For all eternity, I want to observe the rules that Shea has established for network etiquette.

You're probably standing in the computer section of a bookstore surrounded by too many books about the Internet and the information superhighway. You're confused: Which book do I really need about all this email stuff?

It doesn't matter which of the technical books you buy because they all contain the same downloaded files. However, if you want to read a book that was written and that teaches you principles that you will use for a long, long time, this is it.