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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
Highly Entertaining, 8 Aug 2004
"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:
Witty, intelligent and fun, 24 Nov 2003
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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281 of 309 people found the following review helpful:
Beware of reading this book on public transport, 21 Nov 2003
By A Customer
There are so many words to describe this book: hilarious, learned, helpful, entertaining, punctilious, warm-hearted, open-minded and, dare I write such a faux pas, "unputdownable". As soon as I read this book I bought a copy for a friend. That friend has just phoned me from a bus to quote the book back to me, such was her enjoyment. It's that kind of book. At this moment in time she is probably clearing the top deck of a number 38 because she's laughing like a child; she may even have taken a step closer to the asylum and is reading out loud to her fellow travellers. I should explain, for anyone who may think that this book is a work of self-congratulation for over-educated, girly-armed literary types, that underpinning this desperately funny book is Lynne Truss's frank admission that she is a puntuation pedant, a stickler who has lost all sense of proportion. When she describes her irritation at badly puntuated market traders' signs, the object is that we laugh at her comically misplaced irrascibility, not to assume for one moment that someone capable of writing such an expansive, humorous and helpful book is also bent on shaming vast swathes of the nation's readers who, through no fault of their own, do not know everything there is to know about punctuation. However, there is a warning that go with this book. You read it, you laugh out loud, then you buy a copy for a friend. Thereafter, everyone who reads this book will begin spending an absurdly long time punctuating their emails, text messages and shopping lists. Read this book. As Truss says, all you have to lose is your sense of proportion.
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70 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
Join the Campaign to Save Our Language!, 21 Dec 2003
Greengrocer's apostrophes or greengrocers' apostrophes? If you can be bothered by the difference and, more to the point in this age of deteriorating standards, know that there is a difference, then this must be on your wish list! Better still, buy it today.Truss writes with knowledge and humour, but she has a serious point to make - that quality of expression matters, and that standards of written expression are alarmingly low. Truss is a first class teacher, and she carefully explains both the history and 'rules' of punctuation. As an English teacher, I don't agree with her every point, but I warmly welcome her message. Since buying this book just two weeks ago, I have already started using the anecdotes in class and plugging this book at every opportunity. Buy it, read it and spread its message.
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51 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
It's a relief, 25 Dec 2003
I'm only half way through this book and I'm so relieved. I thought I was the only one who got upset at misplaced punctuation but it seems I'm not alone. This is a wonderful read although I'm surprised to learn how popular it is since I expected to be part of a small minority of pedants. If you worry about whether to write it's, its' or its then this is the book for you. Not only will it tell you which one to use but it will give you the confidence to stop and worry about these things. Read it and be entertained.
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38 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
pedant?purist?puzzled?person?any of preceeding?Read this!, 8 Jan 2004
I was given this for Christmas (isn't it odd to have a book on PUNCTUATION in the bestseller list for Christmas) and loved t.It's a lively, lovely read. Some reviewers on these pages have accused it of being patronising, smug or condescending. I'm a bit puzzled as to where they got that impression from. She uses great little anecdotes, good illustrations (and puts in some helpful reminders to fill in the bits of unctuation classes from primary school that anyone's forgotten. It's clear, fun, and an excellent gift (or book to get for yourself) for pedants, purists or puzzled-people; anyone in fact. go read.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Junior necessity? I'll say..., 25 Sep 2006
Having owned and read the adult version of this book, I must say, its younger brother is probably essential for children!
Although I do not currently own it, I've managed to obtain a preview. Thus, I can NOW state that I SHALL be buying it for my younger familiars.
*Dark laugh*
In all seriousness, it's a must for kids and can even prove helpful for adults (such as myself) who are tearfully struggling to dominate the pedantic world of punctuation.
I hope Lynne didn't hear me say that and if she did, 'twas but a joke!
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Open brackets..., 15 Mar 2005
I loved this book. It is short, and light reading, and very true. There are so many grammatical errors around us, and Truss has made a point to let us know. When I first started to read it, she did seem a little obsessed with it all, and appeared to take it too far, however, this made it all the more interesting to read.For a little while after I had finished the book, I found myself thinking things like "Should this comma be here? Or should I put it after the speech marks? Maybe there shouldn't be a hyphen, but a colon instead..." I think people will learn from this book, as it is true what she says that as children, we aren't taught to focus as much on ensuring our punctuation is accurate maybe as much as we should. Go and have a read - and a chuckle, as it is written with humour, and see what you think for yourself...
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Punctuation can be entertaining, 20 Jul 2004
As a former lecturer in support English at FE level, an avid reader and a punctuation fanatic, I enjoyed this book immensely.
Criticism of Lynn Truss for not providing a primer of punctuation, missed the point. The lady is a writer of comic novels and journalism as well, who cast her commedienne's eye over punctuation,and the result was informative and very entertaining. Read this for enjoyment and learn as you do so. I was reduced to laughing so much that it hurt, and find myself spotting even more punctuation howlers than I did previously. I wonder if we can persuade Ms Truss to turn her perceptive eye to the misuse of English grammar for her next venture into non fiction.
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33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
Eats, Shoots & Leaves, 26 Jan 2004
I didn't buy this book after reading various dreadful Amazon reviews (the bad ones are at the top), then I was given it as a present and loved it. It is easily readable, humourous and informative. It does not poke fun at people from a superior point of view, the examples of incorrect punctuation are funny, e.g. "Pansy's ready" (She is? For what?) in a garden centre. The author is at pains to point out her pedantry and also the reasons why; bad punctuation can create ambiguity or even change the meaning of a piece of text. The emphasis is very much on common sense and the only quibble I could find is it is not "The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation", there is a great deal of tolerance! I also gave this book as a present and my friend read it in one sitting and pronounced it brilliant.
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