Mary Norris
Author of Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen
About the Author
Mary Norris is the author of the New York Times bestseller Between You Me, an account of her years in The New Yorker copy department. Originally from Cleveland, she lives in New York and has traveled extensively in Greece.
Image credit: Author Mary Norris at the 2019 Texas Book Festival in Austin, Texas, United States. By Larry D. Moore, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83963173
Works by Mary Norris
Associated Works
Freud's Blind Spot: 23 Original Essays on Cherished, Estranged, Lost, Hurtful, Hopeful, Complicated Siblings (2010) — Contributor — 18 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1952-02-07
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- Places of residence
- New York, New York, USA
- Occupations
- copy editor
- Organizations
- The New Yorker
Members
Reviews
Between You and Me: Confessions Of A Comma Queen by Mary Norris
As an editor, I thoroughly enjoyed this busman's holiday of a book. Witty and fun.
I may not retain the rules of grammar and style written about here, but I enjoyed reading about them. It was especially fun to peek into the New Yorker copy editing sessions and read the examples of many great writers. Also, the chapter on pencils and pencil sharpeners was enlightening. Who knew there was such an art to making pencils?
Not my cup of tea. Interesting bits, to be sure, but over all not the sort of thing that grasps my attention. Too memoir-y. DNF
I got this used after it was removed from the Arapahoe Library District's shelves. It's a memoir with free included grammar and usage advice à la The New Yorker. The author has worked in the New Yorker copy department for more than 30 years.
Her advice includes:
When to use that or which …if the phrase or clause introduced by a relative pronoun — “that” or “which”— is essential to the meaning of the sentence, “that” is preferred, and it is not separated from its antecedent by a comma. p. 38
Chaise longue (French for long chair) not chaise lounge (both are shown in Webster’s presumably because the error is so common) p.45
Referring to ‘between you and I’.’Solecism’ is a fancy word for mistake. [I have confused it in the past with solipsism. This will help.] p. 79
Interesting uses of the comma. Dickens apparently inserted them between subject and predicate in a sentence as in: But what principally attracted the attention of Nicholas, was the old gentleman’s eye …. Grafted upon the quaintness and oddity of his appearance, was something so indescribably engaging … p. 96
In adjectives preceding a noun, if you can substitute “and” for a comma it belongs there. p. 105
A whole chapter on hyphens, entitled, “Who put the hyphen in Moby-Dick?” It's only in the title and not in at least some textual references to the whale.
An extensive discussion of semicolons, with the advice that what follows the semicolon should be able to stand as its own sentence — an independent clause. (followed by the exceptions) p. 142
Chapters on the apostrophe and obscenities finish things up.… (more)
Her advice includes:
When to use that or which …if the phrase or clause introduced by a relative pronoun — “that” or “which”— is essential to the meaning of the sentence, “that” is preferred, and it is not separated from its antecedent by a comma. p. 38
Chaise longue (French for long chair) not chaise lounge (both are shown in Webster’s presumably because the error is so common) p.45
Referring to ‘between you and I’.’Solecism’ is a fancy word for mistake. [I have confused it in the past with solipsism. This will help.] p. 79
Interesting uses of the comma. Dickens apparently inserted them between subject and predicate in a sentence as in: But what principally attracted the attention of Nicholas, was the old gentleman’s eye …. Grafted upon the quaintness and oddity of his appearance, was something so indescribably engaging … p. 96
In adjectives preceding a noun, if you can substitute “and” for a comma it belongs there. p. 105
A whole chapter on hyphens, entitled, “Who put the hyphen in Moby-Dick?” It's only in the title and not in at least some textual references to the whale.
An extensive discussion of semicolons, with the advice that what follows the semicolon should be able to stand as its own sentence — an independent clause. (followed by the exceptions) p. 142
Chapters on the apostrophe and obscenities finish things up.… (more)
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- Rating
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