Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation - Softcover

LYNNE TRUSS

3.87

105,076 ratings by Goodreads

9781861976772: Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861976771 ISBN 13: 9781861976772

Publisher: PROFILE BOOKS LTD, 2005

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The spirited and scholarly #1 New York Times bestseller combines boisterous history with grammar how-to’s to show how important punctuation is in our world—period.

In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, former editor Lynne Truss, gravely concerned about our current grammatical state, boldly defends proper punctuation. She proclaims, 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. Using examples from literature, history, neighborhood signage, and her own imagination, Truss shows how meaning is shaped by commas and apostrophes, and the hilarious consequences of punctuation gone awry.

Featuring a foreword by Frank McCourt, and interspersed with a lively history of punctuation from the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to George Orwell shunning the semicolon, Eats, Shoots & Leaves makes a powerful case for the preservation of proper punctuation.

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From the Back Cover:

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

About the Author:

Lynne Truss is a writer and journalist who started out as a literary editor with a blue pencil and then got sidetracked. The author of three novels and numerous radio comedy dramas, she spent six years as the television critic of The Times of London, followed by four (rather peculiar) years as a sports columnist for the same newspaper. She won Columnist of the Year for her work for Women’s Journal. Lynne Truss also hosted Cutting a Dash, a popular BBC Radio 4 series about punctuation. She now reviews books for the Sunday Times of London and is a familiar voice on BBC Radio 4. She lives in Brighton, England.

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