| Birth Date: | 11 May 1958 |
| Nationality: | American |
| Alma Mater: | Northwestern University |
| Occupation: | Writer, copy editor |
| Employer: | Random House |
| Known For: | Dreyer's English |
| Credits: | , which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by |
| Works: | , which produces label "Works"; or by |
| Label Name: | , which produces label "Label(s)" --> |
| Vice-president, executive managing editor and copy chief | |
| Mother: | Diana C. Seligman |
| Father: | Stanley B. Dreyer |
Benjamin Dreyer (born May 11, 1958) is an American writer and copy editor. He was copy chief at Random House until he retired in 2023.[1] He is the author of Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style (2019).
Dreyer was born May 11, 1958[2] in a Jewish family.[3] He grew up in Queens, New York and Albertson, Long Island.[4] He attended Northwestern University.[5]
Early in his career, Dreyer pursued writing[6] and acting. He worked in bars and restaurants before turning to freelance proofreading, and then copy editing. In 1993, he joined Random House full time as a production editor. He was promoted from group manager to senior managing editor and copy chief in 2008[7] and served as vice-president, executive managing editor and copy chief, at the Random House division of Penguin Random House. until 2023. Supervising the publication of hundreds of titles a year—The New York Times describes Dreyer's role as "style-arbiter-of-last-resort"—he works with novelist Elizabeth Strout as the sole author he continues to copy-edit himself.
Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style was published in the US on January 29, 2019, followed by the UK edition on May 30, 2019.[8] Dreyer's book began as a revision of an internal memo to advise copy editors and proofreaders at Random House.[9] The memo expanded to about 20 pages, and eventually Dreyer became interested in developing it as a book, published with Random House. Dreyer's English debuted at number nine on The New York Times bestseller list for "Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous"[10] and received enthusiastic reviews.[11] [12] In The New Yorker, Katy Waldman writes that "Dreyer beckons readers by showing that his rules make prose pleasurable...The author’s delight in his tool kit is palpable."[13] In Paste, Frannie Jackson recommends the book as "invaluable to everyone who wants to shore up their writing skills and an utter treat for anyone who simply revels in language."[14] In The Wall Street Journal, Ben Yagoda finds "wisdom and good sense on nearly every page of 'Dreyer’s English.'" Yagoda also notes a trend of "copy editors’ memoirs-cum-style guides", comparing Dreyer's English to "the splendid " from New Yorker copy editor Mary Norris.[15]
The Washington Post calls Dreyer "the unofficial language guru on Twitter".[16]
Dreyer lives in Santa Monica, California.