The citation style I use here is my own. I think both the APA (American
Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association) citation
styles are too artificial and pedantic for general use. In acknowledging
sources, it is better to follow the natural conventions of the English
language. In a conversation, for example, we do not refer to a literary
work in this way, “Mitchell, Margaret. Gone With the Wind. What
City: Publisher, 1936.” Instead we say, “Gone with the Wind, by Margaret
Mitchell,” because this is the convention of the English language. If more
details are needed, then we can add information about the publisher, and
the date a particular edition was published. This is usually enough information
to find the work. Naming (one of) the cities where the publisher keeps
a few offices is not necessary. Also, I think some authors might be insulted
if constantly referred to, in a conversation, as, for example, “Smith,
John J.,” so why do it in a literary citation? The only reason for this
kind of pendanticism is to enable a certain kind of intellectual to show
proof of intelligence by correctly repeating the literary citation ritual.
In literary works, inscrutability in any form has no place (except when
the author wishes to cover up a general lack of understanding of the subject).
22 August 1999