Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Ratings91
Average rating3.8
This is a book with a pretty specific audience. It's nonfiction, about punctuation – not grammar, not usage generally, but punctuation. It's basically an ode to the stickler. It's pretty short, at a hair over 200 pages, which is for the best. If it went on much longer you wouldn't want to continue.
Each chapter is about a specific punctuation mark, or occasionally two (colon and semicolon), covering the rules about when and how to use each mark. But it's presented mostly in the form of funny essays, so it's not like reading a textbook. (You'd never try to read Strunk and White cover to cover... would you?) You'll also get little asides like the etymology of “O'” in Irish names.
Worth noting that the author is British and writes based on British English, with the occasional note about how it's done in American English, so you'll want to make sure you don't observe the wrong lessons for your side of the pond.
As an English teacher, I had so much fun reading this book! I have never before read such an excellent explanation of the sense of anxiety I feel while reading anything in brackets.
If you were one of the oddballs who
enjoyed diagramming sentences as a child
or if you get irritated
when you see apostrophe mistakes,
you will like this book. I was surprised
to find myself discussing this book last
night as each of us argued for our
favorite
mark of punctuation. Not an common
event
in my little town.
This guide to punctuation is incredibly helpful and surprisingly funny.