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Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
written by Lynne Truss
Studio : Gotham
by Gotham
Publisher : Gotham
Released : 2006-04-11
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9781592402038
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 544 reviews)
List Price : $12.00
Our Price : $3.34
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Product Description |
A bona fide publishing phenomenon, Lynne Truss’s now classic #1 New York Times bestseller Eats, Shoots & Leaves makes its paperback debut after selling over 3 million copies worldwide in hardcover.
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. |
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humor for grammar geeks |
If you've been living in a cave, the subtitle explains what Eats, Shoots and Leaves is about: "The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation." Since I'm a bit of a grammar geek (albeit an imperfect and occasionally lazy one), I absolutely loved it.
There wasn't much that was news to me. Ones vs. one's was helpful, though I understand that's controversial. I spent far too much time one day googling to chase down which was correct. For the most part, I vastly prefer the practicality of the British usage of such things as putting punctuation inside or outside quotation marks depending on where it makes sense and whether to add an extra S when forming the possessive of words ending in S:
British: When did John say "stop"?
U.S.: When did John say "stop?"
British: Thomas's
U.S.: Thomas'
I do, however, much prefer the logic of the terminal comma in a list, since it makes it clear whether or not the last two items are separate or a pair.
More entertaining than the facts, however, was the humor. I laughed every couple of pages, and read so many excerpts aloud that my 12-year-old picked it up to read as soon as I'd finished it.
The bottom line here, though, is that this is a very subjective book. If you're the kind of person who knows the difference between there, they're, and their, cringes at new car's and truck's, and daydreams about taking a Sharpie to the 10 items or less sign, you'll probably love this. If that sounds obsessive to you, and like I should get a life, you'll probably hate it.
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"Why don't you just tell me..." |
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This book was recommended to me for my bad grammar, but it didn't do much to help. My problem with this book is that after you read it, you feel like a third-grader. I'd prefer less opinion and more instruction ,but that's not the case in this book. The author wants you to know her opinion but offers little instruction. If you want to read a rant on grammar then this is the book for you, but if you want a black-and-white approach with examples ( instead of someone repeatedly telling you how easy it all is)don't even think about using this book as a reference. |
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I NEVER GOT MY BOOK |
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I have never received my book. The seller rushed me leave her a positive feedback, before I received the book, by sending me multiple emails. In the end, I still do not have that book. Neither did I receive a refund... |
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Your library has 10 copies of this book--guarenteed! |
If you must: I suggest your local library. That, or you could buy it used. They are currently selling used copies of the hard back for one cent.
That's about all it's worth. Her information is fair, but her attitude is horrible. She insults every facet of the very audience that is asking her for help. |
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It gets folks fired up, doesn't it? |
My punctuation is definitely not perfect, but I enjoyed "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" a lot because I too am frustrated by the insanity that has writers putting an apostrophe before the "s" in any word ending in that letter! Drives me batty! I believe that the author has toungue planted firmly in cheek and found myself laughing all the way through her book. I am glad that even in punctuation, humor can be found.
It also heightened my awareness of "writing right" and made me want to do a better job of using reference guides to understand why things are done as they are, instead of just going by the seat of my pants and "I think it looks right, oh I'll just throw in some more commas." |
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