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Loading... Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuationby Lynne Truss
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. With a great deal of flourish and humour, Truss explains punctuation, its usages, abuses and deviations. Historically, it really is quite fascinating, and I can only commiserate with the abuses she reports (English is my second language and even I am often appalled by what I have to read). I could, however, have done without the mental abuse: not everyone who makes a mistake is stupid and ignorant as she would have us believe - frankly, I found it out of place and would have enjoyed the book rather more if it hadn't been a constant thread. An otherwise useful tool, which I am sure to use in my editing practice (the rules also apply remarkably well to French!). (  ) Cecilturtle | Nov 22, 2009 |  A disappointment. (  ) Alaric.Adair | Nov 10, 2009 | Reminder that grammar and punctuation are important. guybal | Nov 4, 2009 | As time has passed, the novelty of a punctuation bestseller has faded. That doesn't change the fact that this is an adorable little book. It makes me a little sad when I work at a library and we get signs that have apostrophe errors. The world would be better if more people would just read this book! (  )2  megaden | Nov 3, 2009 | What a charming little book! With genuine affection for the subject matter and a large helping of wit, Truss methodically runs down the rules for apostrophes, periods, commas, exclamation points, question marks, dashes, quotation marks, hyphens, and brackets. If the very word "punctuation" causes you to yawn despairingly, this book is probably not for you. However, if you have even a passing interest in communicating more effectively, I heartily recommend picking up a copy. Contrary to popular belief, the purpose of punctuation is not to drive you bats, but to clarify the written word. It's quite useful, really, as is demonstrated so well in this book. I learned a lot without ever feeling lectured to, and even laughed quite a bit. (  )1 melydia | Oct 28, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
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We all know the basics of punctuation. Or do we? A look at most neighborhood signage tells a different story. Through sloppy usage and low standards on the Internet, in e-mail, and now text messages, we have made proper punctuation an endangered species.
In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, former editor Truss dares to say, in her delightfully urbane, witty, and very English way, that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are. This is a book for people who love punctuation and get upset when it is mishandled. From the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to George Orwell shunning the semicolon, this lively history makes a powerful case for the preservation of a system of printing conventions that is much too subtle to be mucked about with. BACKCOVER: Praise for Lynne Truss and Eats, Shoots & Leaves:
Eats, Shoots & Leaves “makes correct usage so cool that you have to admire Ms. Truss.”
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Witty, smart, passionate.”
—Los Angeles Times Book Review, Best Books Of 2004: Nonfiction
“Who knew grammar could be so much fun?”
—Newsweek
“Witty and instructive. . . . Truss is an entertaining, well-read scold in a culture that could use more scolding.”
—USA Today “Truss is William Safire crossed with John Cleese’s Basil Fawlty.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“Lynne Truss has done the English-speaking world a huge service.”
—The Christian Science Monitor
“This book changed my life in small, perfect ways like learning how to make better coffee or fold an omelet. It’s the perfect gift for anyone who cares about grammar and a gentle introduction for those who don’t care enough.”
—The Boston Sunday Globe
“Lynne Truss makes [punctuation] a joy to contemplate.”
—Elle
“If Lynne Truss were Roman Catholic I’d nominate her for sainthood.” —Frank McCourt, author of Angela’s Ashes
“Truss’s scholarship is impressive and never dry.”
—Edmund Morris, The New York Times Book Review
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:57 -0400)
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