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Dear Dr. Lee-- I saw your posting to the CASLL list, of which I have only recently become a member. I wasn't sure it was appropriate to send my response to the group (I don't know any of them and still feel very much an outsider) but I thought it might be reasonable to send you a note directly, especially since my suggestion may seem a bit self-interested. I had originally thought that you were looking for a handbook rather than a textbook for business communication, which is why I didn't comment sooner, but recent posts seem to indicate that textbooks are in the running too. If it's the latter you're seeking, I'd suggest that you request review copies of Ron Blicq's *Guidelines for Report Writing* -- a very good handbook on the basics of report writing, based on Blicq's highly successful *Administratively Write!* and *Technically Write* but without the exercises. It's a Prentice Hall title. For more or less basic coverage of business communication, how about Margot Northey's *Impact!* or my own *Effective Business Communication*, both of which are reasonably priced and geared for the introductory college or university student. I have even used my book (in combination with other readings) in a fourth-year course in rhetoric and professional communication, and the students found it really helpful. It may be that it falls into the category of "insufficiently theorized" books that one of the other correspondents complained about, but the audience for these books is not generally a theoretically sophisticated group. They are more interested in learning *what to do* and how. None of the works I've mentioned is a theory text, though my own PhD is in rhetoric, and I have certainly based my advice both on fundamentals of rhetoric and on fairly extensive personal experience and research, particularly in the chapters on report writing, oral presentation, and the job search. Northey's book is also very good -- although she's an English person, she's the Dean of Business at one of the larger schools in southern Ontario, Waterloo I think (though I could be mistaken about which university it is). I hope this information is helpful to you. ---------------------------------------------- Dr. Jennifer MacLennan ([log in to unmask]) D.K. Seaman Chair, Technical and Professional Communication College of Engineering University of Saskatchewan 57 Campus Drive Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A9 (306) 966 5388 FAX: (306) 966 5205 (Dean's Office) ----------------------------------------------