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Title: Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss ISBN: 1-59240-087-6 Publisher: Gotham Books Pub. Date: 12 April, 2004 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.95 (210 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A "Seinfeld" book
Comment: What I mean is this is a book about pretty much nothing. The Economist raved about it last fall when it wasn't even available on Amazon-US. Six months later it's in Costco for $9.99. Some of the Amazon-UK reviewers found it snooty so I lost interest at the time. Now, however, I can assure you that Lynne Truss is indeed quite snooty, and occasionally very funny. You might think there isn't a lot you can say about punctuation-and there isn't. But what there is to say about history and usage and the current state of flux on the whole matter is all said in a very entertaining and showy way in this wisp of a book. She reminds me of Miss Manners, or parts of Mark Twain's work. Getting the content right, but consciously playing the wise guy.
Rating: 4
Summary: Why read a punctuation book if you're finished with school?
Comment: What can I say about this one? I loved it, I loved it, I loved it. Perhaps a book about punctuation sounds dry and boring to you. If so, this is not the book you envision. It has humor, history, usage, misuage (often hysterically funny), and a prescription for moving forward with punctuation as your friend. Truss admits to being a grammarian and a stickler for correct punctuation usage but she's not so out of the real world as to suggest that we never change. True, she laments some of the changes that seem to be occurring, often because they obscure the intended meaning of the sentence, but she is flexible enough to embrace language and its punctuation as a sort of organic being, offering passages properly punctuated by their authors during their times and what those same passages would properly look like today. I was pleased to note, as I read through this, that I generally do a respectable job punctuating (all bets are off in my e-mails, incidentally) and that I knew most of the rules. And perhaps that's why I emjoyed the book; the sense of recognition kept me nodding my head and saying, "Of course!" through so much of it. Validation is always good, especially concerning quirks your family and friends find a bit odd! I'd highly recommend this although I suspect that the people who would most benefit from reading it won't even register the title on their radar should they happen to walk past it on their way to the days "Special's and Bargain's."
Rating: 5
Summary: Hope for those of us who punctuate properly!!
Comment: For a long time, I hid my sickness. I only talked about it to close friends, people who wouldn't judge me. I thought I was the only person who cringed each time I saw "your" when it should have been "you're" or wanted to rewrite entire Amazon.com reviews because of atrocious spelling and/or punctuation. Now I know that I'm not alone; in fact, I'm in good company. This book does the unthinkable. It takes both a humorous and an educational look at the often overlooked (and undertaught) world of punctuation. I actually found myself laughing out loud at parts of this book. That could be because I'm an English teacher, but I like to think it's because Lynne Truss is a funny lady and this is one funny book. The next time I'm about to pull my hair out while teaching apostrophes to eighth-graders, I'll pull out this book and have a good laugh. Lord knows I'll need it.
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Title: Oxymoronica: Paradoxical Wit & Wisdom From History's Greatest Wordsmiths by Mardy Grothe ISBN: 0060536993 Publisher: HarperResource Pub. Date: 02 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: How to Read Literature Like a Professor : A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines by Thomas C. Foster ISBN: 006000942X Publisher: Perennial Currents Pub. Date: 01 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason ISBN: 0385337116 Publisher: Dial Books Pub. Date: 11 May, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward ISBN: 074325547X Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 19 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
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Title: My Life by Bill Clinton ISBN: 0375414576 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 22 June, 2004 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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