穿越迷雾那头是什么？

近几年穿越小说很是风靡，穿越电视剧的大潮也不甘示弱紧随其后。我一直都没有看过穿越小说，倒是看了穿越剧《步步经心》。电视开始还有些意思，后面便开始无聊起来。看完再仔细想想，基本都是作者yy。正如网上所调侃的：女子们，醒醒吧，就算是你们穿越回古代去，你们也只能是个丫鬟不会是个公主。

但我仍然很好奇，为什么那么多人喜欢看穿越小说？看这些小说的会对人有什么样的影响呢？我也很喜欢看小说，我个人感觉看小说尤其是好小说时，潜意识里面容易把自己想象成为书中的主角，随着书中人物的幸福而开心，他们的苦难而概叹命运，因着书中人物超乎常人的能力和性格而自我感觉良好。记得我在看《納尼亚传奇》时，最喜欢的角色就是Lucy，她虽是最小的女孩却非常勇敢，又很善良，她对Aslan的信念也是她的兄弟姐妹中最强的。看完书后在听audiobook的时候，有一天我忽然意识到我很自觉得把自己放在了Lucy的角色上。然而现实中的我可能是Edmund，那个属于死亡的叛徒，那个用Aslan的死亡换来生命的Edmund。有时我又会是Susan，容易抱怨，信念薄弱。

那么在看穿越小说的时候，不可避免的会被带入到书中。最近的很多穿越小说，主角大都从现代回到过去，因为有着一些历史发展的知识，再加上作者所赋予的聪明才智，都会在古代的环境里得心应手，大有作为，或享得众人宠爱，寻得如意郎君。若不经思考，潜意识里把自己放在书中主角的位置，被穿越小说带到这样的幻觉中，沉迷于这样的书中，到底是成了对现实不满的逃避，或对奇遇的向往，对被众人追捧的渴求， 对现实爱情失望而对美好爱情的寻求。

孔子说学而不思则罔，讲的正是这个道理。爱看书本是好事，但若只是看书不经思考，受益就浅，也容易被书中表象所蒙蔽。在穿越小说的那头，你能获得什么，到什么样的影响更取决于你对书的思考。

后记：
有很多人穿越小说持批判态度，我没有看过，所以不想妄加评论，下面只是摘录一些别人批判的观点。全文请看：http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4c2492380100v4nq.html

杨陈刚：喜欢穿越小说的，明显以女生居多，喜欢的理由也比较一致，穿越小说虚构的情景满足了她们的虚荣和幻想，我们不难发现穿越的主人公多成为了王子公主等显赫的人物。 

黄玲： 西方也有穿越小说，像马克·吐温的《康州美国佬在亚瑟王朝》，被誉为“穿越文的鼻祖”。它 具有现实批判精神，在穿越中表现现代共和制与中世纪君主制的冲突，现代文明与封建教会的冲突，是很严肃的小说。和中国今天的穿越小说的力度完全不一样，现 在中国的穿越小说多是言情加历史。 

徐霞：穿越小说的受众对象多以女性为主，一定程度上她们把穿越小说作为自己精神的寄托，用来填补现实生活各方面的空虚。穿越小说很大程度上迎合了女性的阅读喜好，尤其是其中爱情题材的作品，因为随着现实生活中纯粹的爱情越来越少，世俗的因素在婚姻中所占的比重越来越强大，人逐渐的物质化，很多女生转而从 穿越小说中去寻找在现实中寻觅不到的轰轰烈烈的爱情。而历史题材的穿越小说，也从很多方面满足了人们对野史的兴趣。 

徐曦: 其实就跟男生看武侠小说寻找精神寄托一样，女生看穿越小说也是在寻找一种精神的宣泄、得到 一种心理的补偿，在现实生活中得不到的优质男、体验不到的浪漫的爱情，却可以在小说的世界里实现。在穿越的世界里，有英俊挺拔的皇子，有浪荡江湖的快意， 有后宫勾心斗角、险中求生的刺激……在那个虚幻的世界里，你可以把自己带入书中女主角的命运，跟着主角一起体会一场轰轰烈烈的爱情，经历一场生离死别的爱 恋；更何况在穿越的世界里，你还可以预知历史、改变历史，甚至把现代的文明与科技带到古代去，这多多少少给了现在很多在生活中平平淡淡、庸庸碌碌的“宅 女”们以心理的滋养与慰藉，那些在现实生活中被压抑了的激情与幻想在穿越的世界里通通得以复活。对于众多的女生来说，穿越小说起到了“成人的童话”的功效。

罗欢：和现实不一样的生活使人们在阅读时有一种猎奇的心理。

黄玲：穿越是人对现实的逃避。它的内容有着对现实的折射，说明人们还是期望传奇、浪漫，只不过换个场景实现而已。

徐霞：这也从一个侧面反映出现如今人的精神世界越来越荒凉，越来越没有精神的寄托了。从另一个角度看，那些现在或者曾经对穿越小说有过热衷以 及思考的人，比起那些完全对这个类型的小说漠视的人一定意义上更显得可贵，想着穿越的人说明他们的心底多少还存在着美好的梦想，还知道自己在现实中丢失的 是什么。而那些连穿越都懒得穿的人，或许他们的内心真的已经一片荒凉。

蔡丽：穿越小说有着人们对浪漫、传奇生活的向往。爱情是人类的本能。

罗欢：写给男生看的穿越小说离不开金钱权势和美女，写给女生看的穿越小说离不开好的对象和美满的家庭。

杨陈刚：穿越小说读起来很轻松，文字不少简短明快，有点古意。内容大多其实就是把言情故事放在一个穿越的背景下。

谢轶群：总体上说，穿越作品的文化价值大于文学价值，它的火爆流行是文化现象，不是文学现象；对它适合做社会文化批评，而不是审美批评。

黄玲：写未来就是科幻小说了，不是穿越小说。如果穿越到了未来，人们就没有优越感了，不能再做预言家。穿越到过去，一切大的事件、方向已经确定，现代人在那里有优势，这是穿越小说的一个特色。

郭鹏群：穿越小说或穿越剧的盛行原因还有两点：一是我们对现实的无法把握。 如今国内流行的电视剧主要有三种：革命历史剧；美化皇权的宫廷剧，其中就包括了穿越剧；以及完全不符合现实的“现实剧”，如《老大的幸福》《乡村爱情》 等，完全是麻痹或娱乐百姓。指向“现在”的电视剧都不多，连现实的深层矛盾都不敢揭露，现实的真实性都把握不住，还想把握未来？所以作家很多作品都是回避 现实的。二是我们对未来其实有预感，但是不敢去想象，更不敢穿越到未来。社会要继续腐败堕落下去，直到崩塌、溃败？我们看不到解决它的有效途径，人们当然 不敢想象未来了，梦想也无从谈起。

宋家宏：穿越多是爱情小说，说明现实没有纯粹的爱情，只能用此来做心理补偿。人们宁肯美化过去来拒绝现实，逃避未来。典型九斤老太式的“厚古薄今”。

蔡丽：这不就像是阿Q，穿越其实是一剂现实的安慰剂，说明现实生活真是太平庸了，一点想象的空间都没有，那就到虚幻空间去吧。把自己设定到某个历史场景，演绎一段爱情或者人生，尤其对女生来讲也是一份满足。或者是不是这样，在现实有多实际，在穿越就有多纯情？

谢轶群：这还是不相信自己有改变现实的能力，不敢面对现实和未来，因为现实太强大，只有通过穿越的避风港来麻痹自己，可以说它是精神鸦片。

罗  欢：穿越小说近来有一点变化：早期穿越小说多是主人公成为公主格格等重要人物，天生就具有一些能力或者神通，不需要怎么努力就能获得成功。 但现在的穿越小说主人公多是成为平凡人物，比如《平凡的清穿日子》、《明朝五好家庭》等一系列的现在被称为“种田文”的穿越小说，并且主人公需要通过自己 的一系列努力奋斗才获得最终的成功。作者有意无意的都想告诉人们，不管身处什么时代，个人的努力才是最重要的。慢慢的穿越小说也变得有励志作用了。

Places I Have Heard the Ocean

Places I Have Heard the Ocean

by Faith Shearin

In a cat's throat, in a shell I hold
to my ear — though I'm told
this is the sound of my own
blood. I have heard the ocean
in the city: cars against
the beach of our street. Or in
the subway, waiting for a train
that carries me like a current.
In my bed: place of high and low
tide or in my daughter's skates,
rolling over the sidewalk.
Ocean in the trees when they
fill their heads with wind.
Ocean in the rise and fall:
lungs of everyone I love.

"Places I Have Heard the Ocean" by Faith Shearin, from Moving the Piano. © Stephen F. Austin University Press, 2011. Reprinted with permission.

10 Podcasts for Writers

10 Podcasts for Writers Worth Listening To

How much can we trust our memories?

The book Remembering Satan made my jaw drop literally, in which the author Lawrence Wright describes the bizarre case of Paul Ingram, a Washington State deputy sheriff, who was accused by his daughters of sexual abuse and of belonging to a satanic cult.

The stories started with Paul Ingram being arrested because of accusations from his daughters Ericka and Julie of sexual abuse. Followed by some unprofessional interrogations from his colleagues, Paul recovered several memories of molesting his daughters while in trance, implicating two fellow deputies participating in those raping and sexual abuses. At the same time, Paul's daughters produced new disturbing memories of participating satanic practices with their whole family and other members of the sheriff's department, which involved killing babies, raping women, and child cannibalism.

In the irrational and hysterical wave of "Satanic Panic", which resulted in numerous investigations/trials of people accused of Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) in 1980s in the US, the case of Ingram was going craze. Because Paul Ingram originally plead guilty and recovered memories corresponding to his daughters' accusations. This case has been claimed to be the proof of the existence of SRA, although Ingram's recovered memories lacked evidence and consistency and almost no evidence of any SRA has ever been found.

To make the case more complex, psychologist Richard Ofshe did a little experiment to Paul Ingram, which he implanted a false memory to Ingram. Even after Ofshe told Ingram that the detailed memory Ingram recovered actually never happened, Ingram insisted that it felt so true to him. Based on this experiment, Ofshe claimed that Ingram was inadvertently hypnotized and the confessions were the result of false memories being implanted with suggestions by authority figures who conducted his interrogation.

As Freud abandoned his seduction theory and concluded that the memories of sexual abuse were in fact imaginary fantasies, while some psychologists have shown that it is possible to implant false memories in individuals, it is possible to doubt the validity of the recovered memories of sexual abuses of Paul Ingram, his daughters, and later his wife.

At the end of my reading, the truth behind the case of Paul Ingram becomes more blurring than ever. It even made me start doubting my own memories, especially those related to my childhood.

I have an memory of a vivid picture that our family were sending off my uncle to join the army. In that memory, I was on my mother's lap seeing that my uncle had his stuff packed on his back waving goodbye to us. When I was little, I claimed that I remembered that scene. I refused to admit it being false memory even my mother told me that is almost impossible because my uncle left the year when I was born.

Now, I realize that it is very much possible that I came up that memory based on some books I read or TV show I watched. That memory is likely my fantasy rather than a fact. Then, how much can we trust our own memories? How much differences between the facts and the memories?

Good points about scientific writing

In Richard Preston's introduction for The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2007, I found some good points about scientific writing.

• Writing is linear, proceeding from one word to the next; one of the tricks in science and nature writing, which works well in certain kind of pieces but is a hard trick to get right, is the delicate process of managing the line of prose as it moves from exposition to narrative back to exposition again. Technically, when you break a narrative to explain something, it's called a "set piece." The name tells what it does. It sits there, providing reader with explanation of something. If you put too much narrative in a piece of writing about science, without enough exposition, the reader won't see the reason for the narrative. But if you start a narrative and then hang too much exposition on it, the exposition ends up as a load of wet laundry hanging on the line, and it drags the narrative down to the ground.
• Another thing I relish is clear exposition of an important idea, especially if it's counterintuitive, challenging, controversial, or hasn't been presented in such a way before. Here we don't need narrative or character, what we need is a good argument. "A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check," in Scientific American, by Robert H. Socolow and Stephen W. Pacala, who are both working scientists, has a quiet but strong voice and a good raison d'etre. The authors ask the straightforward question, How, practically speaking, can the world reduce carbon emissions? If we know the climate is warming up because of human-caused carbon emissions, then if we begin acting right now, what can we do to reduce carbon emissions, and how effective will is be? In a straightforward, persuasive set of arguments, Socolow and Pacala show that carbon emissions can be lowered, and it can have a major effect.

This Is Just to Say

This Is Just to Say
by William Carlos Williams
I have eaten the plums that were in the ice box
and which you were probably saving for breakfast.
Forgive me. They were delicious. So sweet and so cold.

This poetry has been used widely in poetry classes everywhere and, particularly, elementary schools. This poetry has been imitated and spoofed. It has even become a game among poets, to write a version of "This is just to say." So I tried to come up two.

This is just to say
By Yujin Li 
One
I have messed up your life that was in this unsettling world
and which you were probably expecting for great.
Forgive me. It was messy. So dirty and so hopeless.
Two
I have read the diary that was in the drawer
and which you were probably keeping for yourself.
Forgive me. It was a page-turner. So intriguing and so tempting. 

Here are some other examples. 

This is just to say
by Kenneth Koch 
One
I chopped down the house that you had been saving to live in next summer.
I am sorry, but it was morning, and I had nothing to do.
And its wooden beams were so inviting.
Two
Last evening we went dancing, and I broke your leg.
Forgive me. I was clumsy, and I wanted you here in the wards, where I am the doctor.


This is just to say
By Andrew
Sorry I took your money and burned it.
But it looked like the world falling apart when it crackled and burned.
So I think it was worth it. After all, you can't see the world fall apart every day.


This Is Just to Say
by Sarah Vowell
I carved your name, not mine, into the arm of dad's chair.
Sorry you were punished.
But the wood was so gummy, and my knife was so sharp.


This Is Just to Say
by Jonathan Goldstein
I have eaten the fruit of knowledge, but nothing happened.
Not a word. No lightning or volcanoes, not even a drop of rain.
So I was just wondering, are you there?


This Is Just to Say
by Shalom Auslander
One
I'm sorry you are overweight
and drinking and feeling like everything in your life is doomed to failure.
But this is probably why mom said I was her favorite.
Two
it sucks, little doe, that I hit you with my car,
but at least you weren't alive to watch the hunters shoot your children.
Three
he was a trouble maker, OK?
And didn't know when to shut up.
Still, we never would have killed him if we'd known he was the Lord.


This Is Just to Say
by Heather O'Neill.
Dear Mom, This is just to say I forgive you for eating all the plums, the apples, the pears, and even drinking the last of the orange juice.
I forgive you for emptying Dad's bank account and for painting stars on our station wagon right before you got in and drove away.
I forgive you for leaving us without even saying good-bye.
Your plans were always so sweet, so delicious, and so cold.

Friendship

I finished reading E.B. White's Charlotte's Web last year. I enjoyed the story and E.B. White's elegant writing instantly. Yet it was after I listened the audio book for several times, I started to think about the friendship between Wilbur the pig and Charlotte the spider.

It is obvious that Charlotte is a good friend to Wilbur. Charlotte comforted Wilbur when he was lonely and worried about his future. She wrote words on her webs and saved Wilbur's life. But I can't help myself thinking that Wilbur seems not good enough for Charlotte. He received love and loyalty from Charlotte. But what has he ever done for Charlotte? Is he good enough to be Charlotte's friend?

Looking back to my friendships with my friends, especially those from college, I feel myself playing the role of Wilbur. I am often the younger, childish, and less mature one. My friends take care of me as big brothers or sisters loving their little sister. I feel I receive more than I give. I don't feel I deserve all their love. I wonder whether they ever think I am a burden for them.

I guess that is also what was on Wilbur's mind when he asked Charlotte (in Chapter 21 Last Day):
     Why did you do all this for me?  I don't deserve it. I've never done anything 
     for you.
Charlotte answered:
    You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my 
    webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're 
    born, we live a little while, we die.
    A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping 
    and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a 
    trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that.

What a beautiful answer Charlotte gave to Wilbur! I do hope that is what my friends think about our friendship. As being a Charlotte for me, they lift up their lives trifles.

In our friendships, we sometimes play the role of Wilbur, the one receiving love, sometimes play the role of Charlotte, the one giving love. But that is not important. After all, being a friend to each other in itself is the tremendous thing for the friendship.

Writing practice community detection

Community detection is finding a group of people that have same interest, or occupation, or live in the same area. Identifying communities can help us to understand how our society function and how different communities affect one another. For example, by identifying people that are easily infected by flu, we can prevent the spread of flu by giving flu shots to them in advance.

But detecting community is not easy for complex networks in which people are connected in different ways.

[FW] Bibliography of Academic Writing Guides by Wendy Belcher

Bibliography of Academic Writing Guides

(this list is a bit dated now, many books have newer editions)

Recommended
Boice, Robert. 2000. Advice for New Faculty Members: Nihil Nimus. Allyn & Bacon.
The best work by the best writer on academic writing. "Nihil Nimus" means "nothing in excess." This advice is based on Boice's finding that moderation is the single-most reliable predictor of success in academic life. The book is full of practical rules for combining teaching, socializing, and brief, daily sessions of writing. "It is the first guidebook to move beyond anecdotes and surmises for its directives, based on the author's extensive experience and solid research in the areas of staff and faculty development," says an Amazon.com review.
Robert Boice. 1992. The New Faculty Member: Supporting and Fostering Professional Development. Jossey-Bass Publishers.
An earlier excellent text by the leading authority on academic writing.

Boice, Robert. 1990. Professors as Writers: A Self-Help Guide to Productive Writing. Stillwater, Oklahoma: New Forums Press.
An extremely helpful practical guide by the leading authority on academic writing. Includes an extensive diagnostic questionnaire.
Writing for Publication
Cantor, Jeffrey A. 1994. A Guide to Academic Writing. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Useful focus on publishing strategies rather than writing. Includes chapter on writing for professional journals. Advises on writing conference papers and grants. Deals at length with book publication, including contracts, prospectuses, and textbooks.
Luey, Beth. 1995. Handbook for Academic Authors. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
A comprehensive book on academic publishing. Includes only twenty pages on writing for journals. Includes a useful chapter on revising a dissertation into a book. Discusses at length how to work with publishers. Addresses submission mechanics.
Matkin, Ralph E. and T. F. Riggar. 1991. Persist and Publish: Helpful Hints for Academic Writing and Publishing. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.
General methods for increasing "productivity and achievement in the publish-or-perish academic world." Many useful figures and tables. Includes twenty pages on writing for journals.
Day, Robert A. 1998. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. 5th ed. New York: Oryx Press.
Specifically for those in the sciences. Amazon.com says "each edition of this witty and practical guide to writing, organizing, illustrating, and submitting scientific research for publication in a scholarly scientific journal has become an instant bestseller."
Parker, Frank, and Kathryn Riley. 1996. Writing for Academic Publication: A Guide to Getting Started. Superior: Parlay Enterprises.
Broad advice on writing academic reviews, book reviews, abstracts, conference papers, and articles rather than concentrating on journal articles.
Silverman, Franklin H. 1999. Publishing for Tenure and Beyond. New York: Praeger.
"Provides graduate students who intend to pursue a career in academia and tenure-track junior faculty with candid information about developing an adequate publication record … [and how to] maximize the likelihood of having their articles accepted for publication by peer-reviewed professional, scientific, and scholarly journals." For graduate students and junior faculty, it focuses on journal article publication and the large picture-what content is selling today
Moxley, Joseph M., and Todd Taylor. 1997. Writing and Publishing for Academic Authors. 2nd ed. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.
Collected volume of essays by various authors. Broad book on academic publishing. Little on journal article publishing.
Huff, Anne Sigismund. 1998. Writing for Scholarly Publication. Sage Publications.
Not focused on journal articles and devoted largely to prewriting rather than revising.
Germano, William. 2001. Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Written by the publishing director of Routledge, this long-time academic editor details why editors chose some books and decline others, how the publishing process works regarding books, how to read a contract, and other details of publishing a book.
Staying Motivated and Sane
Bolker, Joan. 1998. Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis. New York: Henry Holt and Co.
Excellent and very popular text on the psychological aspects of writing your dissertation. For writing a dissertation, not academic articles. Focuses on the emotional management of graduate school writing. Well written and to the point. She is a clinical psychologist who has spent the past two decades at Harvard exclusively helping blocked dissertation writers, so it is not surprising that she brings real skill to her task.
Becker, Howard S. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
This now fifteen-year old book represents an insightful analysis of why most academic writing is so terrible and a personal reflection on the task of writing. More motivational than concrete. For social science only.
Peterson, Karen E. 1996. The Tomorrow Trap: Unlocking the Secrets of the Procrastination-Protection Syndrome. Health Communications.
Good advice on avoiding procrastination.
Zerubavel, Eviatar. 1999. The Clockwork Muse : A Practical Guide to Writing Theses, Dissertations, and Books. Cambridge: Harvard Univ Press.
Focused on time management of long projects.
Caplan, Paula J. 1994. Lifting a Ton of Feathers: A Woman's Guide to Surviving in the Academic World. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
A useful book for anyone, male or female, in the academy about its "unwritten rules,"twenty-seven "myths," and fifteen "catch-22s." Gives some general principles for coping with these myths and gives specific suggestions on dealing with specific challenges. Extensive bibliography of guides for non-dominant groups in the academy.
Goldsmith, John A., John Komlos, and Penny Schine Gold. 2001. The Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career: A Portable Mentor for Scholars from Graduate School through Tenure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Gives advice on how to manage graduate school-working with mentors, writing a dissertation, and landing a job-as well as how to handle being an assitant professor, teaching and doing research, getting tenure, and how to combine work and your personal life. Written as a conversation among the three authors.
Writing Well
Williams, Joseph M. 1997. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. 5th ed. New York: Longman.
The famous book on how to write clearly. Now in its fifth edition. His advice is based on the concept that articles, paragraphs, and sentences have a story to tell through "characters" and "actions." Clarity results from "mapping characters and actions onto subjects and verbs" (101). Excellent advice on cohesion as well.
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. 1995. The Craft of Research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Largely for undergraduates, but a good refresher on how to pick and pursue a topic.
Strunk, W., Jr., and E. B. White. 1979. The Elements of Style. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan.
Still the bible of elegant, clear writing.
Nonnative Speakers of English Guides
Feak, Christine B., and John M. Swales. 1997. Academic Writing for Graduate Students : Essential Tasks and Skills : A Course for Nonnative Speakers of English (English for Specific Purposes). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Another useful book for anyone seeking extremely specific advice about how to write graduate-level research papers. Aimed at students for whom English is a second language, this guide is useful for anyone not entirely sure about what is expected in various parts of an academic paper.
Oshima, Alice. 1998. Writing Academic English; A Writing and Sentence Structure Handbook for International Students. 3rd ed.: Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
Style Manuals
Style manuals give detailed instructions for the preparation and publication of academic materials. Since authors and editors from around the world in various fields have different trainings and therefore present information in widely varied ways, style manuals are attempts to standardize these presentations. By setting rules on matters of taste and choice, style manuals insure that all the articles in a journal or book are presented in a uniform manner. For instance, while everyone agrees that a period should appear at the end of a sentence, should a footnote number preceed the period or follow it? There is no right or wrong answer, but since regular patterns increase readability, it is helpful if the editor can make sure that the number always appears in the same place throughout your article and the others in the volume.
Each style manual represents particular conventions of standarizing punctuation, spelling, foreign languages, capitalization, abbreviations, headings, quotations, numbers, names and terms, math, tables, figures, notes, and reference citations in text and references. Some of the most common manuals are listed below.
American Psychological Association. 2001. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Commonly called the APA, this manual is the standard for those in the social sciences, not just psychology. It focuses on the preparation of journal articles, not books. It provides more advice for authors on writing than some style manuals as it was originally designed for first-time authors. In addition to technical matters of style, it addresses designing and reporting on research, structuring articles, writing clearly, following ethical standards, avoiding bias in language, and converting the dissertation into a journal article.
Gibaldi, Joseph. 2003. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America.
This manual is the standard for those in the humanities, and particularly for those writing on literature or language. It can be used to prepare either articles or books. Like the APA, it is more addressed to authors than editors. In addition to technical matters of style, it addresses selecting a journal or publisher, wading the minefield of copyright issues, and writing for a particular audience.
University of Chicago Press. 2003. The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.
Commonly called Chicago, this manual is the standard for the preparation of books. That is, it has a focus on books, rather than journal articles, and is oriented toward editors more than authors. It gives almost no advice on writing, but is much more comprehensive than any other style manual about technical matters. It includes an entire section on printing issues, such as composition and binding.
Hale, Constance. 1999. Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age. Rev. ed. New York: Broadway Books.
Leading guide to the presentation of material related to the internet. Includes dictionary of relevant technical terms.
Connolly, William G., and Allan M. Siegal. 1999. The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage: The Official Style Guide Used by the Writers and Editors of the World's Most Authoritative Newspaper. New York: Crown Publishers.
Not for the preparation of academic articles.

Goldstein, Norm. 1994. The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. Not for the preparation of academic articles.

Dictionaries
Schwartz, Marilyn. 1995. Guidelines for Bias-Free Writing. Indiana University Press. Findings of the Task Force on Bias-Free Language of the Association of American University Presses.
Gives clear advice on how to avoid disparaging, exclusive, or otherwise incorrect usage.
Maggio, Rosalie. 1991. The Dictionary of Bias-Free Usage: A Guide to Nondiscriminatory Language. Phoenix: Oryx Press.
Now out of print, but still useful advice on writing without discriminating.
Merriam-Webster. 1993. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster.
Some dictionaries are more equal than others. Webster's is the standard dictionary for academic writing and is particularly recommended for use with the Chicago Manual of Style.
Writing for a Particular Discipline
General
Kirszne. 1994. The Handbook on Writing in Disciplines. 3rd ed. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
Art/Music/Film
Barnet, Sylvan. 1989. A Short Guide to Writing About Art. 3rd ed. New York: HarperCollins.
The Short guides are specifically aimed at undergraduate students and address a largely undergraduate problem: coming up with a good idea.

Wingell, Richard J. 1990. Writing About Music: An Introductory Guide. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Psychology/Education/Behavioral Sciences
Kupfersmid, Joel. 1996. An Author's Guide to Publishing Better Articles in Better Journals in Behavioral Sciences. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Silverman, Robert J. 1982. Getting Published in Education Journals. Springfield, Ill.: Thomas. Social Science/Sociology/Social Work
Becker, Howard S. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cuba, Lee. 1993. A Short Guide to Writing About Social Science. 2nd ed. New York: HarperCollins.
Johnson, William A. 1997. The Sociology Student Writer's Manual. New York: Prentice Hall.
Political Science
Martin, Fenton. 1997. Getting Published in Political Science Journals; A Guide for Authors, Editors and Librarians. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Political Science Association.
Scott, Gregory M. 1997. The Political Science Student Writer's Manual. 2nd ed. New York: Prentice Hall.
History
Hellstern, Mark E. 1997. The History Student Writers' Manual. New York: Prentice Hall.
Marius, Richard. 1989. A Short Guide to Writing about History. 3rd ed. Reading: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers.
Philosophy and Religion
Graybosch, Anthony. 1997. The Philosophy Student Writer's Manual. New York: Prentice Hall.
Watson, Richard A. 1992. Writing Philosophy: A Guide to Professional Writing and Publishing. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
Other
Gannon, Robert. 1996. Best Science Writing : Readings and Insights. Oryx Press.

Adding Books to This Bibliography
If you have a book that you would like to recommend be added to this list, please contact me.

An Excerpt from Joseph Mitchell's "McSorley's Wonderful Saloon"

This paragraph is so interesting that I kept reading it several times. It makes me want to visit this place.
...
Throughout his life Bill's Principal concern was to keep McSorley's exactly as it had been in his father's time. When anything had to be changed or repaired, it appeared to pain him physically. For twenty years the bar had a deepening sag. A carpenter warned him repeatedly that it was about to collapse; finally, in 1933, he told the carpenter to go ahead and prop it up. While the work was in progress he sat at a table in the back room with his head in his hands and got so upset he could not eat for several days. In the same year the smoke- and cobweb-encrusted paint on the ceiling began to flake off and float to the floor. After customers complained that they were afraid the flakes they found in their ale might strangle them to death, he grudgingly had the ceiling repainted. In 1925 he had to switch to earthenware mugs; most of the pewter ones had been stolen by souvenir hunters. In the same year a coin-box telephone, which he would never answer himself, was installed in the back room. These were about the only major changes he ever allowed. Occasionally one of the pictures his father had hung would fall off the wall and the glass would break, and he would fill in the gap. His contributions include a set of portraits of the wives of Presidents through the first Mrs. Woodrew Wilson, a poster of Barney Oldfield in a red racing car, and a poem called "The Man Behind the Bar." He knew this poem by heart and particularly liked the last verse:
When St. Peter sees him coming he will leave the gates ajar,
For he knows he's had his hell on earth, has the man behind the bar.
...