22 June 2012

The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation!!

After the interesting discussion about punctuation and grammar connected with my blog post sprinkling Capitals Into blog Titles in A Random fashion, I remembered a punctuation book that’s sitting on my shelf.

The book is called Eats, Shoots & Leaves and was written by Lynne Truss. It was given to me by Father James Tierney who just had to share this very entertaining book with a fellow lover of little details. 
Do you cringe every time you see an essential missing comma, or when you spot such sentences as, “Video’s for sale”? Then this book is for you. But even if you have no particular interest in punctuation, you might still enjoy this book for the witty way in which it has been written.
Here’s the book description from Amazon:
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.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves is definitely not your usual mundane manual of punctuation. It’s a very entertaining read. Oh yes, you might still learn something about punctuation while you’re reading. So might your teenagers.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves is available as both hardcover and paperback books. There is also a Kindle version plus an audio CD. All are available from Amazon.
This book would also make a great gift. I certainly enjoyed receiving my copy from Father Tierney.

Sue Elvis

I'm an Australian blogger, podcaster, and Youtuber. I write and speak about unschooling, parenting and family life. I'm also the author of the unschooling books 'Curious Unschoolers', 'Radical Unschool Love' and ‘The Unschool Challenge’. You'll find them on Amazon!

9 Comments

  1. That sounds like a good book, Sue. I must admit that apart from blogs, I don't like reading bad punctuation. I do think it helps make reading easier to understand.

    I recently read a book called Word Spy

    • Vicky,

      I also prefer good punctuation. Errors seem so glaring and distracting! Good punctuation also makes reading out loud easier. Have you ever read a book where you've had to go back and re-read a sentence because initially it doesn't seem to make much sense? It interrupts the flow of the story.

      I don't have auto-correct. It's terrible when machines think they know better than us!

      Word Spy? You'll have to tell me more.

      God bless!

  2. Oops, I accidentally pressed publish and I can 't remember what I was up to. The English language is quite fascinating if you study its development, don't you think?
    One annoying thing I find is the iPad's autocorrect. It's forever changing my words to nonsense.
    God bless, Sue.

  3. I have this book too and was thinking of having my 16 year old read it this year so we could discuss it. Good book!

    • Willa,

      Wow! A comment! I don't get many of those except from dear Vicky who supports me in everything I do. I guess this blog is still in the construction stage. It will be better when there are more posts to browse.

      I love passing on good books to my older children to see if they enjoy them too. I also love the discussions that result.

      Thank you for stopping by!

  4. Hi Sue, (or is it a ':' or ';' ?)

    I have again found a book you recommend in my local library. I have enjoyed reading it over the last week; however, I need to read it again and take notes to improve my use of punctuation.

    Thanks for your post.

    • Gerard,

      I think I will have to re-read the book to brush up on my punctuation before I answer your question!

      Yes, it was a good book, a painless and entertaining way to improve our punctuation. So many punctuation and grammar books are dull and hard to read, but not this one!

      I'm glad you found a copy in your local library. I love libraries!

      God bless!

  5. I love that book 🙂 There is also a picture book version – Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why Commas Really Do Make a Difference. Another fun grammar book is Nitty Gritty Grammar.

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