Lynne Truss deserves to be piled high with honours... she feels a genuine affection for those little full stops and commas, colons and semi-colons. She wants them protected rather than revered, respected rather than worshipped, for the vital job they do. I think she probably understates her case when she argues that people who persist in writing "Good food at it's best" deserve to be "struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave". Lightning strikes are altogether too random. There should be a government task force with the single duty of rooting out such barbarians and burning them at the stake. Happily, Truss is a funny writer and she has an eye for the grotesque. -- John Humphrys ― Sunday Times
Three cheers for Lynne Truss, the extremely droll sports-writer and comic novelist, whose book Eats, Shoots & Leaves makes the history of punctuation a subject at once urgent, sexy and hilarious...Her book is a joyous call to arms for grammatical sticklers everywhere, and I have signed up with delight -- John Walsh ― Independent
Eats, Shoots & Leaves has been a surprise UK bestseller. Every company meeting should begin with a reading from it, followed by a prayer of thanks for its existence -- Michael Skapinker ― Financial Times
[A] witty, clear-headed and altogether enchanting book ... It makes you love punctuation; you want to conserve what is still left and perhaps even call for more of it ... Reading this book put me in such a good mood that I came close to forgiving the people who use that modern punctuation atrocity, the "forward slash". -- Oliver Pritchett ― Sunday Telegraph
This book will stimulate and satisfy. It's worth it's weight in gold. -- Boyd Tonkin ― The Independent
It can only be a matter of time before the new government seizes the chance to appoint her [Lynne Truss] as minister for punctuation. The manifesto is already written. ― The Guardian
If Lynne Truss were Roman Catholic I'd nominate her for sainthood. As it is, thousands of English teachers from Maine to Maui will be calling down blessings on her merry, learned head for her book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. It's a book about punctuation, the poor stepchild of mean old grammar.Punctuation, if you don't mind! The book is so spirited, so scholarly, so seductive, English teachers will sweep aside all other topics to get to, you guessed it, punctuation. Parents and children gather by the fire on chilly evenings to read passages on the history of the semi-colon and the much-maligned dash. Make way for the new Cinderella of the English language, Punctuation Herself! ― Frank McCourt
Ms Truss has had enough; to judge from the huge sales this book has had in its first few weeks, she has unearthed a vast army of supporters...If you have not done so already, buy a copy of this book, read it, absorb its message, then give it to a sub-literate friend or colleague for Christmas. -- Beachcomber ― Daily Express
Lovers of good English have thought of ourselves as isolated outposts...Lynne Truss has emerged as our champion. -- William Hartson ― Daily Express
Lynne Truss has written a funny and apposite book. -- Mary Kenny ― Irish Independent
This is a tremendous book: funny, acute, clear and exactly what I need. ― Henry Porter
This book is brilliant. I laughed, I howled, and I immediately wanted to join the Militant wing of the Apostrophe Society. This is great stuff: genuine, heartfelt, and rousing. Buy it for any reader you know - you will delight them. ― Jenny Colgan
The most charming, entertaining reflections on punctuation I have ever read...Rattling amusingly across the mine-studded plains of English communication, from dashes to question marks to colons and commas, Truss's mischievous wit and memorable anecdotes are hugely refreshing. -- Rosemary Goring ― Glasgow Herald
Lynne Truss is jolly good fun, or at least her book is. This is a book you could just as easily give to a venerable uncle who is a stickler for semicolons or an ignorant whippersnapper with an English GCSE on the horizon. It is both practical and colourful. Read the book, you'll get the (full) point. -- Sarah Vine ― Times
A wonderfully readable little treatise on the uses and misuses of punctuation...witty and entertaining as well as informative. -- Terry Eagleton ― Irish Times
There are plenty of laughs in this book...but this is more than a witty, elegant and passionate book that should be on every writer's shelf...Lynne Truss's book is as much an argument for clear thinking as it is a pedantic defence of obsolete conventions of written language. Well. Done. Lynne!!!!!!! -- Nigel Williams ― Observer Review
If Lynne Truss were Roman Catholic I'd nominate her for sainthood. As it is, thousands of English teachers from Maine to Maui will be calling down blessings on her merry, learned head for her book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. It's a book about punctuation, the poor stepchild of mean old grammar.
Punctuation, if you don't mind! The book is so spirited, so scholarly, so seductive, English teachers will sweep aside all other topics to get to, you guessed it, punctuation. Parents and children gather by the fire on chilly evenings to read passages on the history of the semi-colon and the much-maligned dash. Make way for the new Cinderella of the English language, Punctuation Herself!
-- Frank McCourt ― author of Angela's Ashes and Tis From the Author
It has just been exclamation marks all the way!
About the Author
Lynne Truss is one of Britain's top comic writers and is the author of the number one bestseller Eats, Shoots & Leaves. It has sold over three million copies worldwide and won the British Book of the Year award in 2004. She has also written four comic books, Going Loco, Making the Cat Laugh, Tennyson's Gift and With One Lousy Free Packet of Seed, all available from Profile Books. She is a regular presenter on Radio 4, a Times columnist and a guest presenter for many other programmes. She lives in Brighton.
