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Eats shoots and leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (Hardcover)

by Lynne Truss (Author)

3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (185 customer reviews)

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Product details

Hardcover: 209 pages
Publisher: Profile Books; Reprint edition (6 Nov 2003)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1861976127
ISBN-13: 978-1861976123
Product Dimensions: 18.8 x 13.2 x 2.4 cm

Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (185 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 6,151 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories:
#7 in Books > Reference > Writing > Writing Skills
#9 in Books > Reference > Language > Grammar, Structure & Syntax
#61 in Books > Languages

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Product Description

Book Description

Everyone knows the basics of punctuation, surely? Aren't we all taught at school how to use full stops, commas and question marks? And yet we see ignorance and indifference everywhere. "Its Summer!" says a sign that cries out for an apostrophe. "ANTIQUE,S," says another, bizarrely. "Pansy's ready", we learn to our considerable interest ("Is she?"), as we browse among the bedding plants.

In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss dares to say that, with our system of punctuation patently endangered, it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them for the wonderful and necessary things they are. If there are only pedants left who care, then so be it. "Sticklers unite" is her rallying cry. "You have nothing to lose but your sense of proportion--and arguably you didn't have much of that to begin with."

This is a book for people who love punctuation and get upset about it. From the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to Sir Roger Casement "hanged on a comma"; from George Orwell shunning the semicolon to Peter Cook saying Nevile Shute's three dots made him feel all funny", this book makes a powerful case for the preservation of a system of printing conventions that is much too subtle to be mucked about with.

Oliver Pritchett, Sunday Telegraph

Altogether enchanting...it makes you love punctuation; you want to conserve what is left and perhaps even call for more.

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

185 Reviews

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(23)

Average Customer Review

3.6 out of 5 stars (185 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative and mildly entertaining, 4 April 2005

By	Mr. S. Foster (Doncaster, Yorkshire United Kingdom) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Punctuation is rather like taxation law - it's a dry old subject but if you don't understand it you can't use it to your advantage. Having left a rather unimpressive comprehensive school at the age of 15, I relished the chance of receiving some, albeit late, tuition in punctuation. And I got it, courtesy of Lynne Truss. OK, professional journalists, English scholars and the like may scoff. They take such skills for granted whilst forgetting that some of us are educationally disadvantaged in this respect.

Although entirely comfortable with apostrophes, I was never really sure on which occasions to use a colon or a semi-colon. I liberally use dashes in my texts as alternatives to commas - but was uncertain whether this was permissible. I now know that it is. Furthermore, I am finally able to appreciate the importance of hyphenation to avoid ambiguity. Thanks, Lynne!

The book was also mildly entertaining but I can't honestly say that I was unable to put it down - especially if there was something more enthralling on the telly. Glad I read it, though.

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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Entertaining, 8 Aug 2004

By	Westley (Stuck in my head) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

"Eats, Shoots & Leaves" is not a grammar guide per se, as it doesn't really teach the basics of punctuation. Instead, it's a grammarians dream come true - an enjoyable and illuminating discussion of the history and importance of punctuation (Hmmmm, did I use that dash correctly?). Lovers of punctuation have been decrying the use of "netspeak" with no or minimal punctuation. Accordingly, Truss wrote this engaging book with the rallying cry: "Sticklers unite!" However, Truss does not simply attack the web; indeed, she asserts that text messaging and email have made reading more important than it has been of late. However, to paraphrase Bill Clinton, "It's the punctuation stupid!"

Truss's dry British wit (e.g., talking about wanting to marry the inventor of the colon) is used to great effect in her writing. And amusing vignettes are peppered through the text, including the introduction of the "interrobang" as well as the spread of the "Strukenwhite" virus. She even manages to make punctuation seem, well, sexy. If you've ever found yourself in a spirited debate about the Oxford comma (i.e., the second comma in the phrase "red, white, and blue"), then you'll likely enjoy this book.

Some reviewers have asserted that American readers may be a bit lost; however, Truss is careful about pointing out American versus British punctuation uses. I was never confused. Overall, this book is delightful - most highly recommended.

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398 of 433 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty, intelligent and fun, 24 Nov 2003

By	Matt Knight - See all my reviews

This book is a must read for anyone who feels alone in their own love and obsession with the English language. In a consistently tongue-in-cheek style Lynne Truss has managed to explain the straightforward and oft-abused rules of correct English punctuation in a manner that made me laugh out loud.

It could be very difficult to write a book such as this, which points out people's widespread ignorance of correct punctuation, without sounding insulting or patronising, but the author manages this perfectly by always maintaining the appropriate level of self-deprecation. Yes it IS obsessive, it IS unfashionable, and it IS a little geeky, but her near-obsession with an exacting standard of English punctuation is refreshing, educational and, with her sense of timing and delivery, absolutely hilarious.

"Eats, Shoots and Leaves" is the perfect book for anyone who takes their English, but not themselves, seriously.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
Excellent way to teach children (and adults) - people really don't understand the value of the comma.
Good seller.

Published 14 hours ago by Ms. C. J. Coleman

5.0 out of 5 stars A really useful aid to punctuation
Humourous and thoughtful book. Very informative, a good help with punctuation and lighted hearted in it's approach. Bought two, one to give to my son.

Published 1 month ago by J. Dickinson

5.0 out of 5 stars Instructive and amusing
This is a really good read! Quite remarkable for a book on what could be a very dry subject.
Lynne manages to bring the whole subject to life, with clear instructions on the... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Cary Brown

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a bright, bright moonlight night tonight
The author is a self-confessed stickler for punctuation, yet what this book makes clear is that punctuation itself is only a few hundred years old, which is modest when you think... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Peter Durward Harris

4.0 out of 5 stars Pedant's (sic) of the world unite
If the sight of a grocer's " 's " doesn't drive you to distraction then this book isn't for you. If you can only write in text-speak you won't understand a word of it. Read more

Published 7 months ago by AlanH

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and educational
This books is far more than its title's amusing amphibology. It's funny, educational and very readable. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Alex Ireland

5.0 out of 5 stars You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way
How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Read more

Published 22 months ago by John A. Launders

5.0 out of 5 stars Lynne Truss Has Got A Little List
As someday it may happen that a victim must be found,
She's got a little list -- she's got a little list
Of illiterate offenders who might well be underground,... Read more

Published 22 months ago by Linda Bulger

1.0 out of 5 stars "Lynne Truss brings shame to grammar buffs" - THIS WOMAN DOES NOT REPRESENT US!
All this shows us is that Lynne Truss really should get out more. I can sort of tolerate the snooty and condesending tone in which it's written (not to mention horrendously... Read more

Published 23 months ago by C. Clarke

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