Customer Reviews
Self-concious about puncutation now
I had been seeing this odd title scattered throughout my Internet travels, but had no idea what it was. When I had a chance to get a free copy of the book, I jumped on it, wanting to know what it was all about.
My friends have many reasons to think me odd and my choice of books is one of them. Only Douglas, they might think, could get excited about a book on punctuation. While I wholeheartedly agree that I am odd in many ways, many other people in Britain and America have found this book interesting as well. It is reassuring to know, sometimes, that I am not alone in my madness.
While the subject matter, the use (and abuse) of punctuation such as apostrophes, commas, semicolons and the like, may seem dry to most people, Truss' (oh, goodness, I hope I placed that apostrophe correctly) writing style is light, humorous and dry as a Los Angeles summer. I regularly found myself laughing out loud at some of her examples of horrible punctuation, and then quietly wondering to myself if I had committed similar faux pas in my own writing over the years.
Misplaced commas and apostrophes, abused or forgotten semicolons and colons not only make us look a bit foolish, but hamper the very communication we are desperately trying to achieve.
A few years ago, Lynne Truss presented a show on BBC Radio 4, Cutting a Dash, where she developed many of the ideas and examples for this book. Only in the UK could you have support for a regular show about punctuation. You have to love the British sometimes.
This edition for American audiences is exactly the same as the British version and might throw some American readers for a loop. Fear not, though. Even if you don't know what a "high street" is, or stumble over the concept of a "green grocer", the lessons, humor and fun of this book come through.
If I ever had to study punctuation as a class again, I certainly hope this would be my textbook. In fact, this book might just help students find the fun, and usefulness, of the English language better than dry dissertations on the use of the semicolon.
While Eats, Shoots & Leaves has left me a bit self-conscious about my own writing, the refresher course in punctuation will serve me well for years to come.
Hope for those of us who punctuate properly!!
For a long time, I hid my sickness. I only talked about it to close friends, people who wouldn't judge me. I thought I was the only person who cringed each time I saw "your" when it should have been "you're" or wanted to rewrite entire Amazon.com reviews because of atrocious spelling and/or punctuation. Now I know that I'm not alone; in fact, I'm in good company. This book does the unthinkable. It takes both a humorous and an educational look at the often overlooked (and undertaught) world of punctuation. I actually found myself laughing out loud at parts of this book. That could be because I'm an English teacher, but I like to think it's because Lynne Truss is a funny lady and this is one funny book. The next time I'm about to pull my hair out while teaching apostrophes to eighth-graders, I'll pull out this book and have a good laugh. Lord knows I'll need it.
An Editor's Witty New Friend
I like Lynne Truss. I'd love to have a long lunch with her. Not because she's a grammar know-it-all but because she's intelligent and funny at the same time. This is apparent in her book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves." As an editor, I've shared many of the same emotions as Truss concerning dropped commas, unnecessary apostrophes and mangled colons. She's a lady after my own heart. I gleaned a lot of useful history behind the rules and laughed heartily while doing it. Who knew there was so much to the apostrophe?
I'm also thankful that Truss is mindful of different styles (AP being the one I adhere to) and the ways of we wacky Americans. She knows that grammar itself continues to change over the centuries.
Truss is a beacon of hope for those who despair that any semblance of structure is fast evaporating from all written discourse. Just read the message boards on any Web site (full of "i luv ths book!" and the like) and you'll understand what I mean.
