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Book ReviewsEats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation |
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Book: Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Written by: Lynne Truss |
Publisher: Gotham
Average Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5
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Its great!
Rating:
5 / 5
As the editor in chief of a local suburban newspaper I take pride in making sure that are writers use the correct punctuation and grammer in all of they're stories; so for the holidays I gave all of my staff a present; I gave them all a copy of Eats Shoots and Leaves; The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation!!
A lot of are employees could care less about taking the time to correct there punctuation and grammer; their more concerned with who what where when and why? Irregardless, as a community newspaper with a circulation of almost 1,200 its our duty to make sure that we are giving the public a quality product. Sure we have a dictionary and thesaurus in the office but nobody can ever remember where its at.
Author Lynne Truss does a great job of using her dry British wit to show how bad punctuation grammer and spelling can effect everyones life's. Me and my staff sat down and went through the book together and I think we all walked away with a better understanding of how to write good.
If your job requires you or your employees to know correct punctuation and grammer or if your just someone whose interested in learning more about how to write better than Eats Shoots and Leaves The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation is the book for you.
More People Who Write In Public Should Read This Book!
Rating:
5 / 5
With English being battered by advertising for "Krispy Kreme" doughnuts and other deliberately misspelled words (mispelled so that they may be more easily trademarked), grammar and punctuation are becoming mere niceties, not essentials, of public writing -- and speaking, for that matter.
Those who bray loudly in the public ear for "civil discourse" should read this book carefully before their next outburst. That way they might be able to articulate a complete sentence.
There are many influences in society besides advertising that work corrupt the English language. Lies, obfuscation, deliberate distortion, code words of political activists, propoganda, and ignorance all take their toll.
This book is a modest antidote. It is most civil. It is correct in its assertions about grammar and punctuation. It is well-written. Best of all, the writer has a sense of humor.
Confessions of a Punctuation Stickler
Rating:
4 / 5
Imagine your toughest English teacher with a sense of humor. Then imagine that teacher wrote a very entertaining book about the importance of punctuation. If you cannot put those images together, do not worry: the reality is that Lynne Truss is your de facto English teacher and her "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" is that book.
Despite her narrow envisioned audience for the book, "My book was aimed at the tiny minority of British people `who love punctuation and don't like to see it mucked about with,'" this international best-seller has had great mass appeal. The book was a quick read and it was a good refresher for many punctuation rules, but most of all, it was witty, funny, and I believe a glimpse inside the mind of a type of person most of us never knew existed: a true, die-hard punctuation stickler.
Rather than trying to put into my own words what a true, die-hard punctuation stickler is, I believe Truss described it best in her introduction: "Either this will ring bells for you, or it won't. A printed banner has appeared on the concourse of a petrol station near to where I live. "Come inside," it says, "for CD's, VIDEO's, DVD's, and BOOK's"...For any true stickler, you see, the sight of the plural word "BOOK's" with an apostrophe in it will trigger a ghastly private emotional process similar to the stages of bereavement, though greatly accelerated. First there is shock. Within seconds, shock gives way to disbelief, disbelief to pain, and pain to anger. Finally (and this is where the analogy breaks down), anger gives way to a righteous urge to perpetrate an act of criminal damage with the aid of a permanent marker."
Truss' humor throughout the book made reading about the history of the use and abuse of punctuation something I could have never imagined: fun. If you are adventurous and can adjust to some overtly British references and perspectives without being distracted, I recommend you read this very interesting book. If you do, you may just find yourself doing something you never imagined: voluntarily reading, enjoying, and learning from a book about punctuation.
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