Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! - Lynne Truss, Bonnie Timmons

Advantages: Funny, and it learns ya.
Disadvantages: However: it might make you feel obliged to start using colons and semicolons; and you still might not understand all the why's and wherefore's. (pu?)

...? Why does "will not" become "won't"? Who decides on the why's and wherefores? Or should that be the why's and wherefore's? And why? Or wherefore? And is there a difference between: "it's not" and "it isn't" - or not? Does anyone really know for sure? Yours bewildered, Phillip. P.S. Why, when you seem to be obsessed with the sweets formerly known as Opal Fruits, did you never once mention the abomination that is 'Snickers' - surely the most heinous crime against the English language? P.P.S. If you ever read this, please would you try not to be upset by my 'pretty' punctuation? Thanks. There's no sign of a paperback edition of Eats, Shoot & Leaves as yet; but the original Radio 4 series on which it was based: 'Cutting A Dash' (which is being repeated on BBC7 from February 28th) is available on CD or cassette... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: If you're a stickler for punctuation, it's pretty good
Disadvantages: Otherwise, it's not much use as a learning aid.

...I wouldn't say I'm a stickler for punctuation as such; a misplaced apostrophe doesn't send me into a rage or give me an irrational urge to spread Tipp-ex over a shop sign, but it is the kind of thing I'm likely to notice and sigh about before moving on. I may not be a militant pedant, but I am a pedant just the same. So it was really only a matter of time before I ended up reading Lynne Truss' "Eats, Shoots and Leaves", if only to see what all the fuss was about. I was also curious to see if I was doing things correctly myself; being educated at a Grammar School is no guarantee of perfect grammar. Even less so these days, it seems. Truss starts by tackling the apostrophe, certainly the most misused punctuation mark. Everywhere you look, especially on a site like this, you'll find misplaced apostrophes. Truss gives a number... Read review

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Advantages: Witty, fun for many
Disadvantages: Makes me nervous to write reviews about it...

...of a panda bear that it 'eats shoots and leaves' -- however, punctuating it differently, one gets the sense that it eats, then fires some kind of weapon, and then departs, rather than consuming bamboo and green, leafy things. Truss has a sardonic wit, recommending with British understatement the most horrific sentences for those who abuse their sentences. Truss has little patience (but quite a lot of fun) with common mistakes of the comma, apostrophe, quotation marks, and more. She has somewhat more sympathy for people who haven't learned the fine art of the less prominent punctuation marks: colons, semicolons, brackets and such. However, given the age of such things (some punctuation marks are a thousand years old), perhaps it is about time to start getting things write, er, right. This is not a long book, and is full of little pieces... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful